Experimental and numerical studies on mechanical behavior of buried pipelines crossing faults

This paper presents a study on the mechanical behavior of buried pipelines crossing faults using experimental and numerical methods. A self-made soil-box was used to simulate normal fault, strike-slip fault and oblique slip fault. The effects of some important parameters, including the displacement and type of fault, the buried depth and the diameter of pipe, on the deformation modes and axial strain distribution of the buried pipelines crossing faults was studied in the experiment. Furthermore, a finite element analysis (FEA) model of spring boundary was developed to investigate the performance of the buried pipelines crossing faults, and FEA results were compared with experimental results. It is found that the axial strain distribution of those buried pipelines crossing the normal fault and the oblique fault is asymmetrical along the fault plane and that of buried pipelines crossing the strike-slip fault is approximately symmetrical. Additionally, the axial peak strain appears near both sides of the fault and increases with increasing fault displacement. Moreover, the axial strain of the pipeline decreases with decreasing buried depth or increasing ratios of pipe diameter to pipe wall thickness. Compared with the normal fault and the strike-slip fault, the oblique fault is the most harmful to pipelines. Based on the accuracy of the model, the regression equations of the axial distance from the peak axial strain position of the pipeline to the fault under the effects of buried depth, pipe diameter, wall thickness and fault displacement were given.