Behaviour of Buried Pipelines in Geosynthetics Reinforced Soil Slopes

The development of any nation depends largely on its industrial growth. These industries use pipelines as a carrier for oil, natural gas, water and other fluids. These days, pipelines are mostly buried beneath the earth surface for their enhanced stability and protection. During their course of lying, they have to travel larger distances and pass through a variety of contours with severe adverse topographies. Therefore, the stability of these pipelines gets considerably reduced whenever they pass through a slope or below an embankment. In view of this, numerical analysis has been carried out to investigate the influence of geosynthetics reinforcement on the overall behaviour of buried pipelines. Three-dimensional finite element software was used to simulate reinforced soil layers, PVC pipe, model footing and loading conditions along with slope characteristics. Based on the numerical results, the optimum position of pipe with respect to slope crest and its embedment depth are recommended in this study. This will help in reducing the depth of cover and additional costs incurred during trenching operation as well as increasing the service life of these pipelines. Furthermore, these numerical results have been compared with the existing experimental results on pipelines located in reinforced soil.