Identification of support conditions of buried pipes using a vibrating pig

This paper describes a method for monitoring the variation in support condition of pipelines using a vibration technique. The method is useful for detecting poor support of buried pipelines and for detecting spanning and depth of cover in sub-sea lines. Variation in the pipe support condition leads to increased likelihood of pipe damage. Under roadways, poorly supported pipe may be damaged by vehicle loading. At sea, spanned sections of pipe are vulnerable to ocean current loading and also to snagging by stray anchors in shallow waters. A vibrating `pig' has been developed and tested on buried pipelines. Certain features of pipe support, such as voids and hard spots, display characteristic responses to vibration, and these are measured by the vibrating pig. Post-processing of the measured vibration data is used to produce a graphical representation of the pipeline support and certain `feature characteristics' are identified. In field tests on a pipeline with deliberately constructed support faults, features detected by the vibrating pig are in good agreement with the known construction.

Dynamic condition monitoring of buried gas pipes

This paper describes a device which can be used to detect variation in the integrity of the surrounding medium which supports buried gas pipes. The method is also applicable to other kinds of pipe. Variation in pipe support condition leads to increased likelihood of pipe damage under vehicle loading. A vibrating 'pig' has been developed and tested on buried pipelines in Britain and the measured data obtained is compared with theoretical models. Certain features, such as voids, hard spots and joints, display characteristic responses to vibration and a library of such characteristics has been constructed both experimentally and from the theoretical models.

Partial soi power LDMOS with a variable low-kappa; Dielectric buried layer and a buried P layer

A power LDMOS on partial silicon on insulator (PSOI) with a variable low-κ dielectric (VLKD) buried layer and a buried p (BP) layer is proposed (VLKD BPSOI). At a low κ value, the electric field strength in the buried dielectric (EI) is enhanced, and a Si window makes the substrate share the vertical voltage drop, leading to a high vertical breakdown voltage (BV). Moreover, three interface field peaks are introduced by the BP, the Si window, and the VLKD, which modulate the fields in the SOI layer, the VLKD layer, and the substrate; consequently, a high BV is obtained. Furthermore, the BP reduces the specific on-resistance (Ron), and the Si window alleviates the self-heating effect (SHE). The BV for VLKD BPSOI is enhanced by 34.5%, and Ron is decreased by 26.6%, compared with those for the conventional PSOI, and VLKD BPSOI also maintains a low SHE. © 2006 IEEE.

Uplift resistance of buried pipelines at low cover-diameter ratios

Reliable estimates for the maximum available uplift resistance from the backfill soil are essential to prevent upheaval buckling of buried pipelines. The current design code DNV RP F110 does not offer guidance on how to predict the uplift resistance when the cover:pipe diameter (H/D) ratio is less than 2. Hence the current industry practice is to discount the shear contribution from uplift resitance for design scenarios with H/D ratios less than 1. The necessity of this extra conservatism is assessed through a series of full-scale and centrifuge tests, 21 in total, at the Schofield Centre, University of Cambridge. Backfill types include saturated loose sand, saturated dense sand and dry gravel. Data revealed that the Vertical Slip Surface Model remains applicable for design scenarios in loose sand, dense sand and gravel with H/D ratios less than 1, and that there is no evidence that the contribution from shear should be ignored at these low H/D ratios. For uplift events in gravel, the shear component seems reliable if the cover is more than 1-2 times the average particle size (D50), and more research effort is currenty being carried out to verify this conclusion. Strain analysis from the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) technique proves that the Vertical Slip Surface Model is a good representation of the true uplift deformation mechanism in loose sand at H/D ratios between 0.5 and 3.5. At very low H/D ratios (H/D < 0.5), the deformation mechanism is more wedge-like, but the increased contribution from soil weight is likely to be compensated by the reduced shear contributions. Hence the design equation based on the Vertical Slip Surface Model still produces good estimates for the maximum available uplift resistance. The evolution of shear strain field from PIV analysis provides useful insight into how uplift resistance is mobilized as the uplift event progresses. Copyright 2010, Offshore Technology Conference.

Uplift resistance of buried pipelines in blocky clay backfill

This paper presents the results from 10 minidrum centrifuge tests conducted at the Schofield Centre, compiled with 4 additional test results from Thusyanthan et al., 2008. All these tests were designed to measure the uplift resistance of a pipeline installed into stiff clay by trenching and backfilling, then uplifted approximately 3 months after installation. All tests were conducted at 1:30 scale using soil obtained from offshore clay samples. Experimental results show that clay blocks remained intact after 3 prototype months of consolidation, and were lifted rather than sheared during pipe pullout. The uplift resistance therefore depends on the weight of the soil cover and the shearing resistance mobilised at the softening contact points between the intact blocks and within the interstitial slurry. Slow drained pullout led to lower resistance than fast pullout, indicating that the drained response is critical for design. The varying scatter shows that peak uplift resistance is very sensitive to the arrangement of the backfill blocks when the cover and pipe diameter are comparable to the block size. Copyright © 2009 by The International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers (ISOPE).