Modeling Pipe–Soil Interaction under Lateral Movement Using Material Point Method
Publication: Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice
Volume 15, Issue 1
Abstract
Excessive lateral movements of buried pipes in geohazard-prone areas frequently jeopardize the structural integrity and serviceability of pipelines, as well as the safety of the surrounding geoenvironments. Based on the material point method (MPM), this paper investigates the pipe–soil interactions under lateral pipe movements, with a focus on the failure mechanisms of the surrounding soil during postfailure stages. The accuracy of the numerical model is validated by comparison with the results of large-scale model tests in the literature. There is a strong correlation between the experimental and numerical results in terms of force–displacement relationships and soil failure patterns. The impacts of burial depths, pipe diameters, and soil densities on the failure mechanism are analyzed in detail. The results showed that general shear failure tends to occur in shallow pipe conditions, resulting in significant ground heave. As the pipe burial depth increases, the peak soil resistance increases accordingly, and a transition from general shear failure to a localized flow-around mechanism gradually evolves. Furthermore, the softening effect after the peak resistance is reduced under the smaller pipe diameter and greater buried depth conditions. Comparisons of failure patterns illustrate that the embedment ratio is the main determinant of pipe–soil interaction modes as compared with the soil density. Transition failure often occurs when the embedment ratio ranges from 4.5 to 9.5, with slight influences from pipe diameters and soil properties. Finally, the prediction of the soil peak lateral resistance is explored to assist in underground pipeline design.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This work is financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 42225703 and 42077235).
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Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice
Volume 15 • Issue 1 • February 2024
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© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Mar 12, 2023
Accepted: Sep 26, 2023
Published online: Nov 22, 2023
Published in print: Feb 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Apr 22, 2024
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