Uplift Resistance of Pipelines Buried in Compacted and Uncompacted Sands Using Field Tests
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 147, Issue 11
Abstract
Upheaval buckling (UHB) is a common design issue for buried pipelines when the out-of-straightness of the pipeline combined with the high axial compressive forces induced by the extreme operating conditions causes the pipeline to buckle upwards. It is common to mitigate UHB for onshore pipelines by having deeper burial depths. However, a more practical and cost-effective solution would be to use compacted backfill, which would provide higher uplift resistance and smaller mobilization for buried onshore pipelines. Knowledge of uplift resistance in compacted soil is limited in the literature. This paper presents results from full-scale experiments in which uplift resistance of compacted and uncompacted soil was measured for cover depths ranging from 1.2 to 2.4 m. The effect of the degree of compaction, cover height, and backfill unit weights on uplift resistance and mobilization is presented. A new analytical relationship between the uplift resistance and displacement is proposed for pipelines buried in sand backfills in compacted and uncompacted states.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 147 • Issue 11 • November 2021
Copyright
© 2021 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 5, 2019
Accepted: Jul 12, 2021
Published online: Sep 11, 2021
Published in print: Nov 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Feb 11, 2022
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