Numerical Simulation of Transverse Deformations of Buried Pipelines Due to Slope Instability

Buried pipelines are used to transport water, liquid fuel, gas, oil, etc and they must remain in service in all circumstances such as permanent transverse ground deformation caused by slope instability. In the literature, modeling of soil-pipe interaction is carried out by using two methods of soil-equivalent springs and continuum. In this paper, numerical simulation in domain of continuum is applied to predict the behavior of the pipe embedded inside the slope. Problem modeling has been done in the FLAC 3D software by using finite difference method. The effect of parameters such as pipe diameter and thickness, width of the slope, soil adhesion and internal friction angle of soil on soil and pipe interactions were investigated. Comparison of the present numerical model with other numerical, analytical and physical models, indicates that the maximum displacement of the transverse ground and pipe occurs in the center of the area and reaches zero in the sides. Also, the anchor and force in the pipe are symmetric to the center of the model and reach a maximum value in the center. By taking steps such as increasing the diameter of the pipe, increasing the thickness of the pipe wall and reducing the angle of the slope, the displacements, tensions and strains created in the pipe can be reduced to some extent. On the other hand, the internal angle of friction of the soil and cohesion are effective in increasing the soil's resistance and also reducing the deformations in the pipe.