Centrifuge modeling of oblique pipe-soil interaction in dense and loose sand

Due to relative ground movement, buried pipelines experience geotechnical loads. The imposed geotechnical loads may initiate pipeline deformations that affect system serviceability and integrity. Engineering guidelines (e.g., ALA, 2005; Honegger and Nyman, 2001) provide the technical framework to develop idealized structural models to analyze pipe‒soil interaction events and assess pipe mechanical response. The soil behavior is modeled using discrete springs that represent the geotechnical loads per unit pipe length developed during the interaction event. Soil forces are defined along three orthogonal directions (i.e., axial, lateral and vertical) to analyze the response of pipelines. Nonlinear load-displacement relationships of soil defined by a spring, is independent of neighboring spring elements. However, recent experimental and numerical studies demonstrate significant coupling effects during oblique (i.e., not along one of the orthogonal axes) pipe‒soil interaction events. In the present study, physical modeling using a geotechnical centrifuge was conducted to improve the current understanding of soil load coupling effects of buried pipes in loose and dense sand. A section of pipeline, at shallow burial depth, was translated through the soil at different oblique angles in the axial-lateral plane. The force exerted by the soil on pipe is critically examined to assess the significance of load coupling effects and establish a yield envelope. The displacements required to soil yield force are also examined to assess potential coupling in mobilization distance. A set of laboratory tests were conducted on the sand used for centrifuge modeling to find the stress-strain behavior of sand, which was used to examine the possible mechanisms of centrifuge model test. The yield envelope, deformation patterns, and interpreted failure mechanisms obtained from centrifuge modeling are compared with other physical modeling and numerical simulations available in the literature.