Investigation of Water Pipeline Failures at Balboa Boulevard during the 1994 Northridge Earthquake
Publication: Lifelines 2022
ABSTRACT
Extensive previously and newly available data collected on two pipelines along Balboa Blvd. that failed during the 1994 MW6.7 Northridge Earthquake are compared against numerical simulation results to evaluate the ability to predict ground deformation patterns consistent with field observations. Pipeline data consists of failure features and mode (compressional or tensional), as well as type, material, and dimension of pipelines and joint connections. A previous numerical evaluation conducted by the authors showed good agreement between the magnitude of observed and numerically estimated ground deformations at Balboa Blvd. These results are herein compared against the damage data and interpreted to provide a second order validation to the employed numerical tools and procedures by reconciling soil deformation, pipeline failure, and numerical data. Results from this study suggest advanced numerical modeling that yield reliable peak ground displacements and strain distribution can very well correlate to pipeline failure patterns.
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Lifelines 2022
Pages: 356 - 371
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Published online: Nov 16, 2022
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