SIMPLIFIED FEM MODEL FOR EVALUATING STRESS DURING STRESS RELEASING PROCESS IN EXPOSED PIPELINE SUBJECT TO SETTLEMENT

Abstract

Ground settlement advances over time, steadily increasing the stress in the buried pipeline. A rational method of identifying problem locations has been proposed. If such locations can be identified, measures to reduce the stress are planned. Typical method is removing the earth pressure, adjusting the pipeline elevation, and then restoring the backfill. This paper proposes an analytical model for FEM analysis to evaluate the stress in the pipeline during such stress releasing process. Tests have confirmed that the proposed methods are fully practical and capable of evaluating stress in exposed pipeline on uneven elastic foundation with sufficient precision.