Drained Axial Pipe-Soil Resistance at Low Confinement Using Tilt Table and Direct Shear Tests
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 148, Issue 11
Abstract
Establishing a reliable value for the axial pipe–soil interface resistance is critical for the design of offshore pipelines. Over the last few years, several independent research groups have modified existing methodologies or devised new testing setups to further develop our understanding of the behavior of the pipe–soil interface at low contact stresses. The most common laboratory experimental methods adopted have been based on either tilt table tests or interface direct shear tests. However, a direct comparison between the results of these two testing methodologies has not been established. This paper aims at designing and fabricating a tilt table and interface direct shear setup capable of accurately estimating the drained interface resistance at low normal stresses, in addition to comparing their results under identical testing conditions. Both setups tested the drained clay–solid interface response by varying the soil composition (high and low plasticity clay), the interface roughness (smooth and rough), and the normal stress range. Results showed that the drained residual failure envelopes for the clays and clay–solid interfaces were nonlinear and could be modeled by a simple power model. The interface response was clearly dependent on the interface roughness, particularly when the roughness was normalized with the mean grain size. In the case of smooth interfaces, identical friction angles were obtained from the tilt table and the interface direct shear, whereas in the case of rough interfaces, the interface direct shear yielded lower friction angle values.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Lebanese National Council for Scientific Research (LCNRS) and the American University of Beirut Research Fund (URB).
References
ASTM. 2020. Standard test method for direct shear test of soils under consolidated drained conditions. D3080/D3080M. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
Ballard, J.-C., and R. Jewell. 2013. “Observations of pipe-soil response from in-situ measurements.” In Proc., Offshore Technology Conf. Richardson, TX: OnePetro.
Boukpeti, N., and D. J. White. 2017. “Interface shear box tests for assessing axial pipe–soil resistance.” Géotechnique 67 (1): 18–30. https://doi.org/10.1680/jgeot.15.P.112.
Boylan, N. P., D. J. White, and P. Brunning. 2014. “Seabed friction on carbonate soils: Physical modelling of axial pipe-soil friction.” In Proc., Offshore Technology Conf. Richardson, TX: OnePetro.
De Brier, C., J.-C. Ballard, and D. Colliard. 2016. “On the added value of advanced interface shear testing for pipeline walking mitigation.” In Vol. 24 of Proc., Offshore Pipeline Technology Conf., 25. Leidschendam, Netherlands: Furgo.
Eid, H. T., N. M. Al-Nohmi, D. Wijewickreme, and R. S. Amarasinghe. 2019. “Drained peak and residual interface shear strengths of fine-grained soils for pipeline geotechnics.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 145 (10): 06019010. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0002131.
Eid, H. T., R. S. Amarasinghe, K. H. Rabie, and D. Wijewickreme. 2015. “Residual shear strength of fine-grained soils and soil–solid interfaces at low effective normal stresses.” Can. Geotech. J. 52 (2): 198–210. https://doi.org/10.1139/cgj-2014-0019.
Ganesan, S., M. Kuo, and M. Bolton. 2014. “Influences on pipeline interface friction measured in direct shear tests.” Geotech. Test. J. 37 (1): 20130008. https://doi.org/10.1520/GTJ20130008.
Hill, A. J., and H. Jacob. 2008. “In-situ measurement of pipe-soil interaction in deep water.” In Proc., Offshore Technology Conf. Richardson, TX: OnePetro. https://doi.org/10.4043/19528-ms.
Hill, A. J., D. J. White, D. A. S. Bruton, T. Langford, V. Meyer, R. Jewell, and J. C. Ballard. 2012. “A new framework for axial pipe-soil resistance, illustrated by a range of marine clay datasets.” In Offshore site investigation and geotechnics: Integrated technologies-present and future. London: Society of Underwater Technology.
Jardine, R., F. Chow, R. Overy, and J. Standing. 2005. Vol. 112 of ICP design methods for driven piles in sands and clays. London: Thomas Telford.
Kuo, M. Y. H., C. M. Vincent, M. D. Bolton, A. Hill, and M. Rattley. 2015. “A new torsional shear device for pipeline interface shear testing.” In Proc., 3rd Int. Symp. on Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics, 405–410. London: Taylor & Francis.
Lemos, L. J. L., and P. R. Vaughan. 2000. “Clay–interface shear resistance.” In Selected papers on geotechnical engineering by PR Vaughan, 392–401. London: Thomas Telford.
Lings, M., and M. Dietz. 2004. “An improved direct shear apparatus for sand.” Géotechnique 54 (4): 245–256. https://doi.org/10.1680/geot.2004.54.4.245.
Low, H. E., M. Ramm, M. F. Bransby, D. J. White, and Z. W. Westgate. 2017. “Effect of through-life changes in soil strength and axial pipe-seabed resistance for HPHT pipeline design.” In Proc., Int. Conf. on Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics, 841–849. London: Society of Underwater Technology.
Lupini, J. F., A. E. Skinner, and P. R. Vaughan. 2000. “The drained residual strength of cohesive soils.” In Selected papers on geotechnical engineering by PR Vaughan, 88–120. London: Thomas Telford.
Najjar, S. S., R. B. Gilbert, E. Liedtke, B. McCarron, and A. G. Young. 2007. “Residual shear strength for interfaces between pipelines and clays at low effective normal stresses.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng. 133 (6): 695–706. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0241(2007)133:6(695).
Najjar, S. S., R. B. Gilbert, E. A. Liedtke, and B. McCarron. 2003. “Tilt table test for interface shear resistance between flowlines and soils.” In Vol. 36835 of Proc., Int. Conf. on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering, 859–866. Cancun, Mexico: Ocean, Offshore, and Arctic Engineering Division.
Oliphant, J., and A. Maconochie. 2007. “The axial resistance of buried and unburied pipelines.” In Proc., 6th Int. Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics Conf., 125–132. London: Society for Underwater Technology.
Pedersen, R. C., R. E. Olson, and A. F. Rauch. 2003. “Shear and interface strength of clay at very low effective stress.” Geotech. Test. J. 26 (1): 71–78.
Ramsey, N., R. Jardine, B. Lehane, and A. Ridley. 1998. “A review of soil-steel interface testing with the ring shear apparatus.” In Proc., Int. Conf. Offshore Site Investigation and Foundation Behaviour’ New Frontiers. London: Society of Underwater Technology.
Schneider, M. A., S. A. Stanier, D. J. White, and M. F. Randolph. 2020. “Apparatus for measuring pipe-soil interaction behavior using shallow ‘pipe-like’ penetrometers.” Geotech. Test. J. 43 (3): 20180293. https://doi.org/10.1520/GTJ20180293.
Senthilkumar, M., J. Kodikara, P. Rajeev, and D. Robert. 2013. “Axial pipe-soil interaction behaviour of offshore pipelines.” Aust. Geomech. J. 48 (4): 123–136.
Shi, Y. M., N. Wang, F. P. Gao, W. G. Qi, and J. Q. Wang. 2019. “Physical modeling of the axial pipe-soil interaction for pipeline walking on a sloping sandy seabed.” Ocean Eng. 178 (Feb): 20–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oceaneng.2019.02.059.
Skempton, A. W. 1985. “Residual strength of clays in landslides, folded strata and the laboratory.” Géotechnique 35 (1): 3–18. https://doi.org/10.1680/geot.1985.35.1.3.
Smith, V. B., and D. J. White. 2014. “Volumetric hardening in axial pipe soil interaction.” In Proc., Offshore Technology Conf.-Asia. Richardson, TX: OnePetro.
Stanier, S. A., D. J. White, S. Chatterjee, P. Brunning, and M. F. Randolph. 2015. “A tool for ROV-based seabed friction measurement.” Appl. Ocean Res. 50 (Mar): 155–162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apor.2015.01.016.
Stark, T. D., and H. T. Eid. 1993. “Modified Bromhead ring shear apparatus.” Geotech. Test. J. 16 (1): 100–107. https://doi.org/10.1520/GTJ10272J.
Stark, T. D., and H. T. Eid. 1994. “Drained residual strength of cohesive soils.” J. Geotech. Eng. 120 (5): 856–871. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)0733-9410(1994)120:5(856).
Tsubakihara, Y., H. Kishida, and T. Nishiyama. 1993. “Friction between cohesive soils and steel.” Soils Found. 33 (2): 145–156. https://doi.org/10.3208/sandf1972.33.2_145.
Uesugi, M., and H. Kishida. 1986. “Frictional resistance at yield between dry sand and mild steel.” Soils Found. 26 (4): 139–149. https://doi.org/10.3208/sandf1972.26.4_139.
Westgate, Z. J., D. J. White, and M. Savazzi. 2018. “Experience with interface shear box testing for axial pipe-soil interaction assessment on soft clay.” In Proc., Offshore Technology Conf. Richardson, TX: OnePetro.
White, D., D. A. S. Bruton, M. Bolton, A. J. Hill, J.-C. Ballard, and T. Langford. 2011 “SAFEBUCK JIP-observations of axial pipe-soil interaction from testing on soft natural clays.” In Proc., Offshore Technology Conf. Richardson, TX: OnePetro.
White, D. J., M. E. Campbell, N. P. Boylan, and M. F. Bransby. 2012. “A new framework for axial pipe-soil interaction, illustrated by shear box tests on carbonate soils.” In Offshore site investigation and geotechnics: Integrated technologies-present and future. London: Society of Underwater Technology.
Wijewickreme, D., R. Amarasinghe, and H. Eid. 2014. “Macro-scale direct shear test device for assessing soil-solid interface friction under low effective normal stresses.” Geotech. Test. J. 37 (1): 20120217. https://doi.org/10.1520/GTJ20120217.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 5, 2021
Accepted: Jun 14, 2022
Published online: Aug 26, 2022
Published in print: Nov 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Jan 26, 2023
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.