Abstract
Buried pipelines have become the most efficient and safest way to transport natural gas and petroleum products over long distances, however, they are rather vulnerable to Permanent Ground Displacements induced by geotechnical hazards. This thesis is focused on the soil-pipe interaction for the pipelines under active seismic faults, both lateral and normal faults. A novel and reliable analytical methodology is proposed for buried pipelines with flexible joints, as an alternative method to protect the pipeline from seismic faults.The soil-pipe interaction was simulated with finite element analyses by OpenSees, firstly, for continuous buried pipelines, then for buried pipelines with flexible joints. The numerical results are compared with existing experimental and analytical results, a generally good agreement is achieved for both cases, a significant reduction of pipe strains is observed when using flexible joints. A parametric analysis is presented to identify suitable design parameters.
An analytical methodology for buried pipelines with flexible joints at active fault crossings is proposed, based on certain assumptions for pipe parameters, soil spring types and properties, the proposed methodology is presented in 5 steps and the analytical results are then compared with the numerical model developed before. A mitigation of effects of PGDs is then introduced, based on the proposed methodology, which is compared with other mitigation methods in terms of cost savings.
| Date of Award | 22 Jul 2024 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
|
| Supervisor | Dimitris K Karamitros (Supervisor) & Anastasios Sextos (Supervisor) |