Viscoelastic Approach to Modeling Performance of Buried Pipes

Abstract

A viscoelastic solution for a pipe buried in a homogeneous and isotropic soil is presented. The linear viscoelastic solution is obtained by transforming Hoeg's elastic solution using the (correspondence principle.) To demonstrate the time‐dependent nature of the soil‐pipe system, a comparison is made of the stresses and the deflections obtained for rigid pipes (using the concrete pipe as an example), thermosetting plastic pipes (using the reinforced plastic mortar pipe as an example), and thermoplastic pipes (using the high‐density polyethylene pipe as an example) over a period of time. Pipe‐deflection data over a time period obtained from a laboratory test for a polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe buried in sand is also used to back‐calculate the relaxation properties of the soil.