Case Studies of Hazard Resilient Ductile Iron Pipe Withstanding Natural Hazards in Japan

This paper describes how the hazard resilient ductile iron pipe (HRDIP) withstood permanent ground deformation caused by natural hazard. The HRDIP was mainly targeting developed performance under earthquake-induced ground deformations in Japan and have been no documented failure in the event of big earthquakes for 45 years. Also, HRDIP had no failure under other ground deformation natural hazards such as landslide, ground subsidence, and tsunami. We investigated the behavior of the pipelines in landslide area caused by heavy rain, and tsunami-stricken areas caused by 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. The results concluded that HRDIP accommodated to the ground deformation caused by the landslide and tsunami because of the pipe's joint flexibility and pull out resistance. In addition, in tsunami-stricken area, it seemed that exposed pipeline and debris clashed against each other from the tsunami. This confirmed that the ductile iron pipe has enough strength which endures clash of debris and loaded stress on pipe by debris.