Combined Axial and Lateral Pipe-Soil Interaction Relationships

Abstract

A recent study recommended design guideline improvements to assess ground movement hazards for buried pipeline response. A review identified a wide variation of normalised axial resistance factors. This paper presents a three-dimensional finite element parametric study of pipe-soil interaction under combined axial and lateral loading. The normalised axial resistance is found to be very sensitive to the direction of pipe displacement and controlled by the interface friction near pure axial motion. An interaction diagram is developed and a design equation is proposed for combined axial and lateral loading.