Abstract
The seismic performance of oil and natural gas steel pipelines embedded in earth slopes presents great uncertainty related both to the earthquake shaking characteristics and to the natural heterogeneity of geomaterials. Slope movements and landslides in general constitute a significant risk to pipelines because they can cause permanent deformations and rupture, resulting in spills, environmental problems, and long periods of outage. Moreover, significant risks for underground pipeline integrity may be caused by permanent ground displacements from tectonic fault action, lateral spreading of liquefied soils, where soil can move for a few meters and impose major deformation on the section of pipeline passing through the affected area. Similar risks appear also in the case of pipes embedded in a liquefiable soil layer passing below a river or ground aquifer. In all these cases, the pipe may be subjected to bending resulting to significant compression, with a high risk of local buckling, large plastic deformation and wall rupture. The magnitude of the imposed ground movement may depend significantly on the spatial variability of the soil properties in a zone along the path of the pipeline system. Also, the seismic response of a slope earth with embedded pipeline is investigated. The results compared with a similar slope with spatial variability of soil properties demonstrate that the influence of ground movement imposed on the embedded pipeline is very important and should be accounted for the evaluation of its seismic safety. The study is based on numerical modelling of the soil–pipeline systems, by considering the soil–pipe interaction during seismic shaking. The aim of this study is the investigation of the behaviour of underground energy pipelines under permanent ground displacements.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Honegger, D.G., Hart, J.D., Phillips, R., Gailing, R.W.: Recent prci guidelines for pipelines exposed to landslide and ground subsidence hazards. In: Proceedings of the 8th International Pipeline Conference IPC2010 September 27–October 1, 2010, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. IPC2010-31311
Marinos, V., Stoumpos, G., Papathanassiou, G., Grendas, N., Papouli, D., Papazachos, C.: Landslide geohazard for pipelines of natural gas transport. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Greece. In: Proceedings of the 14th International Congress, Thessaloniki, pp. 845–853 (2016)
Tsatsis, A., Kourkoulis, R.: A risk assessment methodology of buried steel pipeline subjected to permanent ground displacements due to seismically induced-slope failure. In: 8th Hellenic Conference in Geotechnical Engineering, 6–8 November 2019, Athens, Greece
Vazouras, P., Karamanos, S.A., Dakoulas, P.: Finite element analysis of buried steel pipelines under strike-slip fault displacements. Soil Dyn. Earthq. Eng. 30(11), 1361–1376 (2010)
Ariman T.: A review of buckling and rupture failures in pipelines due to large ground deformations. In: American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Pressure Vessels and Piping Division (Publication) PVP, vol. 77 (2020)
Balsamis, A.I., Bouckovalas G. D., Gantes C.J.: Investigation of the use of flexible joints in underground steel pipelines under large permanent ground displacement. In: 8th Hellenic Conference in Geotechnical Engineering, 6–8 November 2019, Athens, Greece
Porter, M., Ferris, G., Leir, M., Leach, M., Haderspock, M. Updated estimates of frequencies of pipeline failures caused by geohazards. In: 2016 11th International Pipeline Conference. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, pp. V002T07A003–V002T07A003 (2016)
Zervos, S.D., Zambas, A.L.: Pipeline analysis at strike-slip fault crossing: effect of embedment trench dimensions. Diploma thesis, NTUA, November 2014
Kennedy, R.P., Chow, A.W., Williamson, R.A.: Fault movement effects on buried oil pipeline. ASCE J. Transp. Eng. 103, 617–633 (1977)
Wang, L.R.L., YehY, A.: A refined seismic analysis and design of buried pipeline for fault movement. Earthq. Eng. Struct. Dyn. 13, 75–96 (1985)
Takada, S., Hassani, N., Fukuda, K.: A new proposal for simplified design of buried steel pipes crossing active faults. Earthq. Eng. Struct. Dyn. 2001(30), 1243–1257 (2001)
Karamitros, D.K., Bouckovalas, G.D., Kouretzis, G.P.: Stress analysis of buried steel pipelines at strike-slip fault crossings. Soil Dyn. Earthq. Eng. 27(3), 200–211 (2007)
Cherniy, V.P., Trifonov, O.V.: Elastoplastic stress–strain analysis of buried steel pipelines subjected to fault displacements with account for service loads. Soil Dyn. Earthq. Eng. 33(1), 54–62 (2012)
Alamanis, N., Dakoulas, P.: Simulation of random soil properties by the Local Average Subdivision method and engineering applications. Energy Syst. (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12667-019-00362-y
Alamanis, N.: Influence of random soil strength properties on the earthquake vulnerability of slopes with embedded oil and natural gas pipelines. Energy Syst. (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12667-020-00394-9
Chaloulos, Y.K., Bouckovalas, G.D., Zervos, S.D., Zampas, A.L.: Soil pressures on pipelines embedded in narrow trenches. In: 8th Hellenic Conference in Geotechnical Engineering, 6–8 November 2019, Athens, Greece (2019)
Sarvanis, G.C, Karamanos, S.A.: Analytical methodologies for buried pipeline design in geohazard areas. In: ASME Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference, Vancouver, Canada (2016)
Vazouras, P., Karamanos, S.A., Dakoulas, P.: Mechanical behavior of buried steel pipes crossing active strike-slip faults. Soil Dyn. Earthq. Eng. 41, 164–180 (2012)
Vazouras, P., Dakoulas, P., Karamanos, S.A.: Pipe-soil interaction and pipeline performance under strike-slip fault movements. Soil Dyn. Earthq. Eng. 72, 48–65 (2015)
Vazouras, P., Karamanos, S.A.: Structural behavior of buried pipe bends and their effect on pipeline response in fault crossing areas. Bull. Earthq. Eng. 15, 4999–5024 (2017)
American Society of Civil Engineers. Pipeline crossings. ASCE Manuals and Reports on Engineering Practice No. 89. Prepared by the Task Committee on Pipeline Crossings of the Technical Committee on Pipeline Crossings of the Pipeline Division of the American Society of Civil Engineers (1996)
American Lifelines Alliance. Guidelines for the design of buried steel pipe (2001)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Nikolaos, A. Βehavior of underground energy pipelines under permanent ground displacements. Energy Syst 12, 941–954 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12667-021-00425-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12667-021-00425-z