Analysis of Longitudinal Mechanical Properties of Buried Suspended Pipeline Resisting Collapse

Abstract

Ground subsidence caused by collapse leads to suspension or subsidence of the pipe, resulting in the stress concentration. It is a significant factor being a threat to safe operation of the pipeline. Based on Pasternak’s beam-on-elastic-foundation theory, this study presents a mechanical model of interaction between the buried suspended pipeline and the soil, which considers the effect of the beam width. The pipeline was modeled as a buried part and a suspended part. According to the compatibility conditions of suspended and nonsuspended parts, this paper solved differential equations describing the deflection of pipeline and derived the formulas of deflection and internal force. This solution involves whole cases of the Pasternak model. Connecting to the pipeline operation status, the formulas of piping stress were deduced by piping stress analysis. Meanwhile, piping stress analysis can define the scope of application of the model. Compared with the measured values and results of the Winkler model, the calculated results of the Pasternak model are more accurate and suitable for predicting the behavior of the pipeline in the limit state. In addition, according to normalized analysis of main affecting factors which comprise the pipe material, pipe dimension, pipe depth, and length of collapse, it was also found that the length of collapse dominates the stability of the pipeline.