Continuous pipeline subject to transverse PGD: A comparison of solutions

ABSTRACT

The response of buried continuos pipeline to transverse Permanent Ground Deformation (PGD)has been studied by a number of investigators over the past few years. In this paper the numerical results by O'Rourke (1988) and Suzuki et al (1988) as well as analytical results by O'Rourke (1989) are compared. It is shown that the numerical results for moderate to large widths of the PGD zone (with >/ 30 m) agree reasonably well, and compare favorably with simplified analytical results. However, for small widths of the PGD zone (with = 10 m) the numerical results differ among investigators. New numerical and analytical results are presented which clarify these differences and suggest appropriate approaches for the "small width" case. Finally, information from PGD case histories, primarily form Japan, is used to establish the range of likely values of the width of the PGD zone.(AU)