Numerical Investigation of Oblique Pipeline/Soil Interaction in Sand

Energy pipelines pass through various environmental and geotechnical conditions. They are usually buried and can be subjected to geohazards like landslides, fault movements or large subsidence resulting in large permanent ground deformations along part of their length. The effect of large permanent ground deformations on buried pipelines can be critical for their integrity and safety. Understanding this effect is important for pipeline designers. In the current engineering guidelines the pipeline/soil interaction has been idealized using structural modeling which evaluates the soil behavior using discrete springs with load-displacement relationships provided in three perpendicular directions (longitudinal, lateral horizontal and vertical). These springs are usually independent and during a 3D pipe/soil relative displacement they can not account for cross effects due to shear interaction between different soil zones along the pipe. Some studies in the past including an experimental study by the authors have shown the importance of cross effects between axial and lateral soil restraints on the pipeline during oblique axial/lateral pipeline/soil relative movements. In this numerical study a three-dimensional continuum finite element model is developed using ABAQUS/Standard software. The model has been calibrated against the centrifuge tests conducted by the authors. The numerical model successfully reproduces the ultimate loads and also the shape of failure surfaces observed during physical tests. The numerical model will be used to extend the physical investigation results by parametric studies in future works.