Seismic wave propagation effects on buried segmented pipelines

Abstract

This paper deals with seismic wave propagation effects on buried segmented pipelines. A finite element model is developed for estimating the axial pipe strain and relative joint displacement of segmented pipelines. The model accounts for the effects of peak ground strain, shear transfer between soil and pipeline, axial stiffness of the pipeline, joint characteristics of the pipeline, and variability of the joint capacity and stiffness. For engineering applications, simplified analytical equations are developed for estimating the maximum pipe strain and relative joint displacement. The finite element and analytical solutions show that the segmented pipeline is relatively flexible with respect to ground deformation induced by seismic waves and deforms together with the ground. The ground strain within each pipe segmental length is shared by the joint displacement and pipe barrel strain. When the maximum ground strain is higher than 0.001, the pipe barrel strain is relatively small and can be ignored. The relative joint displacement of the segmented pipeline is mainly affected by the variability of the joint pullout capacity and accumulates at locally weak joints.