Damage Investigation of Small Diameter Water Supply Pipelines during the 2004 Niigataken-Chuuetsu Earthquake and Discussion on Anti-seismic Countermeasure

Abstract

Damage of small diameter water supply pipelines during the 2004 Niigataken-chuuetsu earthquake is investigated especially focusing on relationship between location of the pipeline's damage and ground condition. Through the damage investigation, it is clarified that damage was concentrated in some local areas such that embankment, alluvial fan, flooding plane and so on. Next, amount of pipe-joint separation was roughly gauged from photographs of pipeline's damage and relative ground displacement was examined regarding non-excess probability. Further,numerical simulations of T-shaped small diameter PVC pipelines subjected to seismic wave and slope displacement were conducted to evaluate efficiency of a new elongated expansion joint.