Upheaval Buckling Research Articles

Numerical modelling of upheaval buckling of offshore pipelines with unstressed and stressed initial imperfections

Buried offshore pipelines transporting hydrocarbon at high temperatures and pressures might experience upheaval buckling. Although pipelines are designed to remain in place, field evidence shows that the buried pipeline might displace a significantly large distance in the upward direction. In the present study, the pre- and post-buckling behaviour of offshore pipelines buried in sand is investigated considering the degradation of uplift soil resistance with the upward displacement of the pipe. The soil resistance degradation models are implemented in a finite element program, and the analyses are performed for large upward displacements even when a buckled section moves above the seabed. The simulation results show that the capacity of the pipeline to carry the load generated from an increase in pressure and temperature reduces significantly if post-peak degradation of uplift soil resistance is considered. The effects of the internal pressure modelling approach, uplift soil resistance degradation model, burial depth and pipe dimensions (diameter and thickness) on upheaval buckling for varying initial imperfections are investigated. Based on a simplified model for developing initial stresses in a pipeline during installation, it has been shown that initial stresses primarily affect the upheaval buckling at lower ranges of upward displacement of the pipe.

Analytical solution of pipeline upheaval buckling considering bi-linear axial pipe-soil interaction model

Under thermal loading, upheaval buckling of subsea pipelines occurs when the axial compressive force exceeds the critical buckling load. In order to accurately predict the upheaval buckling behaviour of subsea pipelines, the axial pipe-soil resistance should be considered more precisely, rather than traditionally treated as rigid-plastic in prior analytical researches on pipeline upheaval buckling. Consequently, this study integrates a bi-linear axial pipe-soil resistance model into the mathematical framework of upheaval buckling. This mathematical model incorporates the von-Kármán type of geometrical nonlinearity and the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory. The research examines typical upheaval buckling behaviour and investigates the influence of axial mobilization distance and ultimate resistance on pipeline upheaval buckling behaviour. The results reveal that incorporating bi-linear axial pipe-soil resistance, in contrast to rigid-plastic resistance, leads the pipeline more susceptible to buckling. Displacement amplitudes increase with the axial mobilization distance during the post-buckling stage. Notably, a larger axial mobilization distance exerts a stronger influence on pipeline buckling. Moreover, the critical buckling temperature exhibits an almost linear negative correlation with axial mobilization distance and a positive correlation with axial ultimate resistance. Additionally, greater axial ultimate resistance magnifies the impact of axial mobilization distance. Therefore, in pipeline buckling design, it is advisable to consider a more sophisticated axial pipe-soil model to accurately account for these complexities.

Modelling upheaval buckling in marine buried pipelines by coupling the shear stresses and soft soil stiffness

Buried marine pipelines employed in the Oil & Gas industry are subjected to pressure and temperature gradients, which cand produce local high compression loads leading to the onset of upheaval buckling failure. Upheaval buckling occurs when the localized stresses across the pipeline are high enough to induce constant deformation due to the low soil restriction in the upward direction. Therefore, models to predict upheaval buckling in buried marine pipes caused by high pressure and high temperature (HP/HT) and soil stiffness have been developed based on Euler-Bernoulli beam theory (EBT). However, this theory does not consider stresses and strains due to shear stresses which can play an important role in upheaval buckling failure. Therefore, in this work an analytical model that takes into account Engesser-Timoshenko beam theory (TBT) and considers the shear effects on pipelines was developed to predict upheaval buckling in buried marine pipelines. Furthermore, equations that govern vertical buckling of buried pipelines considering a plastic soil with initial imperfection were considered. Analytical results were compared with finite element models of buried pipeline and other models reported in the literature, and it was observed that analytical results fall in the range of those reposted in the literature. It was also observed that the incorporation of shear stresses in buried marine pipelines has low effect on upheaval buckling onset and propagation, but the soil stiffness has a strong influence on upheaval failure in buried marine pipelines.

Upheaval Buckling Resistance of Pipelines Buried in Unsaturated Clay Backfills

Upheaval Buckling Resistance of Pipelines Buried in Unsaturated Clay Backfills

Analisis Penentuan Kedalaman Penanaman Pipa Flowline Untuk Mencegah Terjadinya Upheaval Buckling

A force inside a pipe drains fluid from wells producing oil and natural gas. When the power works exceed the pipe's maximum resistance limit, it will cause deformation in the line. This research aimed to evaluate the height of the trench to determine the threshold of tremendous friction force working on the pipe to withstand the axial force, which can cause upheaval buckling. The method used is the calculation of stress analysis. The line of 12 inches measured its style and voltage was planted in the trench with l.5 meters high and 3 meters wide and the soil density of 14.70kN/m3. The data used in the calculation were the design pressure, the outside diameter of the pipe, the minimum melting point of the line, the design factor, the factor of pipe connections, the derating factor, the modulus young, the thermal expansion coefficient, the pipe installation temperature, the maximum operating temperature, the Poisson ratio, the internal pipe pressure, the sectional area of the inner pipe, the pipe cross-sectional area, the depth of pipe planting, the trench width, the value of pipe nondimension, and the soil density of flowline area. The analysis result indicated that the friction force is 356,025.71N/m, and the axial force is 44,927.35N/m. These results showed that the friction force working on the pipe could withstand the axial force working. The cost of making the trench can still be decreased by reducing the height of the track to l m. The excellent friction force in the channel with a size of lm is 252,501.92N/m, where the value is still more significant than the axial force. In conclusion, the friction force working with the trench lm high can still hold the axial force working on the pipe.

Upheaval buckling of underground pipelines of complex configuration located in liquefied soils

The problem of loss of stability of underground pipelines with a middle part in the form of a straight or П-shaped part located in liquefied soils is considered in the article. The pipeline lifting process occurs under the action of buoyancy force in the liquefied soil zone and then under the action of the longitudinal compressive force that appears due to the temperature of the transported product and its pressure. The problem is solved by the finite element method. The results are presented as a table and graphs of changes in the values of transverse displacements along the coordinate depending on the pipeline geometric characteristics and the soil rheological properties. It is established that the П-shaped part is a damper against pipeline buckling.

Pipeline element for upheaval buckling analysis of submarine pipelines with geometric-imperfections under high temperature high pressure

Submarine pipeline is used for transporting oil from wells to resource storage facilities. The oil inside the pipeline is heated and pressured for long-distance transportation, making the pipeline under high temperature and high pressure (HTHP). The pipeline is usually placed inside a trench where surrounding soil restraints its longitudinal expansion. The pipeline is not perfectly straight, but with geometric imperfections, so the upheaval buckling may be triggered when the accumulated compression force has reached its buckling strength. It is not easy to conduct a geometrically nonlinear analysis for the pipeline because of the nonlinear soil–pipeline interactions (SPIs). This paper proposes a new line element aiming for the geometrically nonlinear large deformation analysis of the pipeline under HTHP. The axial expansion force due to high working temperature and pressure is included in the element formulation. Furthermore, a Gauss–Legendre integral method is employed to consider continuously distributed nonlinear SPIs in both lateral and longitudinal directions. Since the pipeline might exhibit large deflections, the analysis adopts the Updated-Lagrangian approach to establish the equilibrium conditions. A Newton–Raphson procedure is developed to execute the analysis. Detailed element formulations are given. Six groups of examples are provided to examine the robustness of the numerical method.

Theoretical investigation on the upheaval thermal buckling of a lined subsea pipeline

In this study, according to the nonlinear von-Kármán assumption and Euler-Bernoulli beam theory, a mathematical model is proposed to simulate upheaval buckling of lined subsea pipelines, which considers the difference in material properties of the liner and outer pipe. A closed-form solution is derived. The analytical solutions are verified by comparing them with the results in the literature. The influence of Young's modulus and the thermal expansion coefficient of the liner on the post-buckling response is analysed. The post-buckling behaviour of the outer pipe and liner are compared. The effect of the ratio of the liner's thickness to the outer pipe's thickness on the post-buckling response of the lined subsea pipeline is analysed in detail. The results show that the liner must be included in the analysis of upheaval thermal buckling. The post-buckling behaviour of both the liner and outer pipe are affected significantly by the thermal expansion coefficient of the liner. The displacement amplitude, axial compressive force, maximum bending moment and maximum stress all increase with increasing ratio of the liner's thickness to the outer pipe's thickness.

Experimental study on uplift mechanism of pipeline buried in sand using high-resolution fiber optic strain sensing nerves

Reliable assessment of uplift capacity of buried pipelines against upheaval buckling requires a valid failure mechanism and a reliable real-time monitoring technique. This paper presents a sensing solution for evaluating uplift capacity of pipelines buried in sand using fiber optic strain sensing (FOSS) nerves. Upward pipe-soil interaction (PSI) was investigated through a series of scaled tests, in which the FOSS and image analysis techniques were used to capture the failure patterns. The published prediction models were evaluated and modified according to observations in the present study as well as a database of 41 pipe loading tests assembled from the literature. Axial strain measurements of FOSS nerves horizontally installed above the pipeline were correlated with the failure behavior of the overlying soil. The test results indicate that the previous analytical models could be further improved regarding their estimations in the failure geometry and mobilization distance at the peak uplift resistance. For typical slip plane failure forms, inclined shear bands star from the pipe shoulder, instead of the springline, and have not yet reached the ground surface at the peak resistance. The vertical inclination of curved shear bands decreases with increasing uplift displacements at the post-peak periods. At large displacements, the upward movement is confined to the deeper ground, and the slip plane failure progressively changes to the flow-around. The feasibility of FOSS in pipe uplift resistance prediction was validated through the comparison with image analyses. In addition, the shear band locations can be identified using fiber optic strain measurements. Finally, the advantages and limits of the FOSS system are discussed in terms of different levels in upward PSI assessment, including failure identification, location, and quantification.

Numerical Modelling of the Effects of Liquefaction on the Upheaval Buckling of Offshore Pipelines Using the PM4Sand Model

The buckling tendency of an offshore pipeline buried in a liquefiable soil aggravates under earthquake situations. Moreover, to understand the upheaval displacement behavior of an offshore pipeline under dynamic loading, it is crucial to understand the variation of liquefaction potential within the soil bed. Thus, in the present study, the variation of the liquefaction potential within the soil body and its effect on the pipeline upheaval displacement (u) and post-shake uplift resistance (Vup) is investigated using a finite element package called PLAXIS 2D. The study was performed for different seismic and soil conditions. To define the soil, two advanced constitutive models are used. The static stages are modelled with the ‘Hardening Soil Model with small strain’ (HSS model), while the dynamic stage is modelled with the PM4Sand model. Moreover, the problem is defined as a 2d plane strain problem. The pipe is considered to be covered with Nevada sand. Several parameters such as a sand-density index (Dr), pipe embedment depth (H), seismic frequency (f) and amplitude are varied to study the variation of the soil liquefaction potential, the pipe upheaval buckling and the post-shake uplift resistance. The model is validated with past studies and a considerable match is obtained. The liquefaction potential is shown using the shadings of a user-defined parameter called a pore water pressure ratio (ru). Moreover, the variation of pipe upheaval displacement (u) and pipe uplift resistance (Vup) are shown using various plots. Thus, it is observed that the liquefaction potential is reduced with an increase in the frequency and the amplitude of the seismic signal. Moreover, the peak upheaval buckling, and the duration of earthquake loading to reach the peak upheaval buckling, decreased with an increase in the earthquake signal frequency. Again, the variation of post-peak uplift resistance of the buried pipeline with the pipe embedment depth is observed to be independent of the signal parameters. However, the variation of uplift resistance of the pipeline with the soil relative density is influenced by the signal parameters.

Uplift Behavior of Pipelines Buried at Various Depths in Spatially Varying Clayey Seabed

The behavior of buried offshore pipelines subjected to upheaval buckling has attracted much attention in recent years. Numerous researchers have made great efforts to investigate the influence of different soil cover depth ratios, soil strengths and pipe-soil interfaces on failure mechanisms and bearing capacities during pipeline uplift. However, attention to soil spatial variability has been relatively limited. To address this gap, a random small-strain finite element analysis has been conducted and reported in this paper to evaluate the influence of the random distribution of soil strength on pipe uplift response. The validity of the numerical model was verified by comparison with the results presented in the previous literature. The spatial variation of soil strength was simulated by a random field. The effect of soil variability on the failure mechanism was determined by comparing the displacement contours of each random realization. Probabilistic analyses were performed on the random uplift capacity obtained by a series of Monte Carlo simulations, and the relationship between the failure probability and the safety factor was also determined. The findings of the present work might serve as a reference for the safety designs of pipelines.

Analytical study on the upheaval thermal buckling of sandwich pipes

Sandwich pipe is one of the most promising subsea pipelines for oil and gas transportation in deep waters due to its high-strength performance and thermal insulation. The gradient of the temperature distribution through the cross-section of sandwich pipes may be significant due to good thermal insulation of the core layer, so it is necessary to consider the temperature distribution in the upheaval thermal buckling analysis. In this study, analytical solutions are derived for the temperature distribution through the cross-section of a sandwich pipe by using the heat conduction equation, and they agree well with the results in the literature. Taking the temperature distribution into account, a mathematical model is proposed to simulate the upheaval buckling of sandwich pipes based on the von-Kármán type of geometrical nonlinearity and the Euler-Bernoulli beam theory. The coupled transverse and axial deflections of sandwich pipes are considered. The buckled section and the slip section are connected by the continuous boundary conditions. The force and moment resultants in the inner pipe, the core layer and the outer pipe are solved separately. Different material properties of different layers can be considered in this mathematical model. Semi-analytical solutions are derived and verified. The typical buckling process is analysed, and the forces, moments and stresses in different layers of sandwich pipes are discussed. Finally, several simplified models for the temperature distributions are proposed. The results show that the temperature distributions in the inner and outer pipes can be assumed to be constant and equal to the temperatures of the internal and external fluids, respectively.

A mechanical model to determine upheaval buckling of buried submarine pipelines

Thermal loads in submarine pipelines generate an axial compressive load that can force the pipeline to buckle, leading to failure if these loads are not considered in the design. Buried pipes are constraint to displacements in all directions, which leads to a high compressive load in the longitudinal axis and makes the pipes more vulnerable to buckling. If buried pipes under thermal loads do not buckle, a high-stresses state takes place when it is combined with high-pressure conditions. In this work, a simple mechanical model to determine the axial buckling load of a buried pipeline is proposed. The model is based on a simply supported beam subjected to a distributed transverse load representing the soil uplift resistance obtained from a referenced model, and an axial compressive load that represents the effective axial force and is computed according to the DNV-RP-F110. Additionally, the pipe–soil system is analyzed through a non-linear finite element model to compare the results with the analytical solution. The proposed simple mechanical model can capture the upheaval buckling behavior and provides results that are consistent with the numerical analysis, specifically for the two main parameters evaluated, namely, the initial pipe curvature and the magnitude of the transverse load.

Buckling and post-buckling of an elastica under a lateral restraining force

Buckling of structures under lateral load restraint has been found to differ from the conventional bifurcation problems and cannot be handled with conventional analysis. Towards a better understanding of this type of unconventional buckling problems, this work investigates the upheaval buckling of an elastica resting on a smooth surface and restrained by a lateral constant force. Analytical solutions for the Mode-1 and Mode-2 post-buckling responses and configurations of the elastica are established. Stability of the post-buckling configurations under force-control are investigated via the energy method. An energy barrier is found to exist and the buckling load depends on the restraining force and perturbation energy. The imperfection sensitivity of the system is different from the conventional buckling ones, and a characteristic imperfection is found to exist that can transform a snap-through instability into a bifurcation buckling. As a first attempt to address the problem of flange wrinkling under a constant blank-holding force during the cup-drawing process, the fundamental solutions are extended to study the wrinkling of a shrinking elastic annulus under a constant lateral restraining force. The post-wrinkling responses are established and an energy barrier is found to exist for each wrinkling mode. A characteristic imperfection is also found to exist for each mode, which eliminates the energy barrier and enables bifurcation wrinkling. The linear relationship between the critical restraining force that prevents the wrinkling of the elastic annulus and the imperfection amplitude is established, which is also verified by numerical simulations. This study contributes to a better understanding of load-restrained buckling problems and is expected to shed light on the elastoplastic buckling of plates and shells under lateral load restraints in general, and on the wrinkling of a thin sheet during cup-drawing in particular.

Analytical solution for upheaval buckling of shallow buried pipelines in inclined cohesionless soil

Analytical solution for upheaval buckling of shallow buried pipelines in inclined cohesionless soil

Critical force of upheaval buckling for imperfect subsea pipe-in-pipe pipelines on nonlinear foundation

Upheaval buckling behaviors of imperfect subsea PIP (pipe-in-pipe) pipelines on nonlinear foundation are studied using finite element method. A parametric study is performed and the effects of the parameters on the critical force of upheaval buckling are discussed, including initial imperfection amplitude to wavelength ratio (AWR), the characteristic parameter of initial imperfection shape, stiffness ratio, clearance between outer and inner pipes, and soil condition as well as vertical pipe-soil interaction. A simplified empirical formula considering the above factors is presented to determine the critical force of upheaval buckling for subsea PIP pipelines based on dimensional analysis and the results of the parametric study. The results of case studies show that the proposed empirical formula has good accuracy.

Numerical finite element modelling of soil resistance against upheaval buckling of buried submarine pipelines

Submarine high-temperature and/or high-pressure (HT/HP) pipelines used to transport oil and gas in different areas of the world are susceptible to global buckling. If the pipelines are simply laid on the seabed, buckling will likely occur in the horizontal plane, while if buried in a trench, buckling will probably arise in the vertical direction. The latter buckling mode may lead to catastrophic pipeline failure potentially associated with massive oil leakage and severe environmental damage. Concerns about upheaval buckling have motivated a number of researchers to investigate the uplift resistance of buried pipelines. The objective of the work presented in this paper is to evaluate the effects of various parameters on the resistance to upheaval buckling of buried submarine pipelines. A numerical approach was adopted to build representative and reliable 3D models of 100 m long embedded pipelines, using the specialized finite element software ABAQUS. Starting with a baseline model of a pipe buried in a medium dense sand with fines, the effects of pertinent parameters on the uplift resistance were explored for two scenarios: (1) uplift of the full pipeline length, which in essence captures the plane strain 2D response and (2) uplift of a central middle length of 20 m. Specifically, the effects of the apparent cohesion of the soil due to the presence of fines, pipeline diameter, embedment depth and diameter to wall thickness ratio were investigated. The uplift forces obtained were normalized in reference to actual pullout and/or effective pipe lengths. The results indicated that the normalized uplift forces obtained in the 3D analyses at high pipeline displacements were in close agreement with those yielded by plane strain models. The model analyses indicated that the contribution of soil apparent cohesion to the uplift resistance was significant. The work indicated that as the level of confinement increases (due to an increase in embedment depth and/or pipeline diameter) the uplift resistance increased, whereas the relative contribution of soil cohesion to the resistance decreases. The paper includes a comparison of the FE results obtained in this study with the available predictive/analytical methods, along with a discussion of which best captured the failure mode and resistance to uplift values of the numerical model.

Analytical study of thermal upheaval buckling for free spanning pipelines

Subsea pipelines with a free suspended span segment may be subject to upheaval buckling under high temperature, which may lead to a failure mode such as local buckling, fracture and fatigue. Mathematical models are established to study the upheaval buckling behaviour of subsea pipelines with a free span segment. Then, the accurate locations of the maxima of displacement and stress are obtained. The buckled configuration and the typical post-buckling behaviour and their dependence on free span length are analysed. Furthermore, a detailed analysis is presented for critical temperature difference, displacement amplitude and maximum axial compressive stress. Finally, the influence of touchdown on post-buckling behaviour during the process of upheaval buckling is discussed. The results show that the pipeline is prone to upheaval buckling when the free span length is large enough and the critical temperature difference decreases with increasing free span length. The displacement amplitude and the maximum stress within the span increase with the increase of the free span length before touchdown. However, after the pipeline touches the bottom of the free span, the maximum stress within the span decreases significantly compared to the case without touchdown, which becomes further smaller for smaller depth of the free span.

Critical upheaval buckling forces of sandwich pipelines with variable stiffnesses of pipe material

The upheaval buckling of sandwich pipelines may cause damage to the core material in the buckle, and the changed pipe material stiffness makes such instability problems more complicated. In this paper, the complementary error function is selected to describe the reduction in the stiffness of the pipe material along the sandwich pipe buckle to propose a new buckling characteristic equation for the sandwich pipeline. Green's function for the differential equation for the deflection curve of the variable stiffness of a beam is utilized to portray the upheaval buckle configuration for a precise critical buckling axial force calculation. Three classical imperfection shape functions to account for possible undulations of the seabed or the furrow bottom are induced to modify the critical buckling axial force considering out-of-straightness effects.

Thermal Upheaval Buckling of Buried Pipelines: Experimental Behavior and Numerical Modeling

Pipelines transporting oil and natural gas may experience upheaval buckling due to substantial compressive forces induced by high temperature and pressure of the fluid content. Such upheaval buckling may pose a major threat to the structural integrity, safety, and operability of pipelines. This study presents results from a series of scaled physical model tests conducted to investigate the uplift behavior and upheaval buckling of buried pipelines. The first set of experiments investigated the resistance force during vertical pullout for different pipe geometries, embedment depths, and relative densities of sand. The second set of experiments investigated the development of global upheaval buckling due to high axial compression of a buried pipe. The study examined the effect of embedment depth on the buckling characteristics and the postbuckling behavior of the pipe. Numerical analyses simulated the experiments and validated the numerical models. A parametric investigation based on rigorous numerical simulations examined the effect of trench-base initial imperfection, internal pressure, and soil strength on the upheaval buckling resistance. The results showed that as the geometric imperfection amplitude increased and its distribution length decreased, the upheaval buckling resistance substantially decreased. Similarly, an increase of the internal pressure of the pipeline may significantly decrease upheaval buckling resistance.