Authors: Sherif Kamel Mohamed A Meguid
Publish Date: 2012/10/30
Volume: 31, Issue: 1, Pages: 199-212
Abstract
In this paper the earth pressure distribution acting on a buried pipe with localized support loss is investigated experimentally and numerically in this study A laboratory setup has been designed to facilitate the simulation of the local wall separation and to track the changes in earth pressure at selected locations along the pipe circumference Validated by the experimental results twodimensional finite element analysis has been conducted to examine the role of soilpipe interaction on the pressure distribution around the pipe before and after the contact loss is introduced Experimental and numerical results revealed that the presence of a gap between the pipe wall and the surrounding backfill can lead to significant changes in contact pressure and bending moment in the pipe wall in the immediate vicinity of the gap This study suggests that efforts to detect and repair areas experiencing support loss should be made before significant changes in pressure develop causing stress concentration in the pipe wall as it may lead to pipe damage
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