Probabilistic Soil-Structure Interaction Model for Pipe-Jacking Force Analysis

Jacking forces are recognized to be an important parameter for the design and installation of pipes through pipe-jacking methods. Moreover, during pipe installation, significant stresses and deformation can develop within the pipes and pipe joints. Although pipe-jacking force has been researched in the recent past, procedures for simulating the pipe deformation and jacking force relationship have not been widely discussed in the literature. In this paper, the so called "t-z" model is utilized for the solution of soil-structure interaction problem at a given stage of the pipe-jacking operation. This soil-structure interaction model can be applied to determine the load-displacement behavior and internal stresses of the structural element when subjected to a jacking force. Here we have applied the method to simulate a series of cases for assessing the jacking force-displacement behavior and pipe stress by varying the soil-structure interaction parameters. In addition, the analysis method is combined with a probabilistic approach to assess the effect of spatial variability upon the jacking force and pipe stress.