|
View Paper
INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK IN SUPPORT OF PIPELINE ENGINEERING DESIGN FOR GEOHZARDS
Session: Transportation and Linear Infrastructure I / Transports et infrastructures linéaires I
Shawn Kenny, Carleton University (Canada)
Pijush Debnath, Memorial University (Canada)
Kenton Pike, Memorial University (Canada)
Bipul Hawlader, Memorial University (Canada)
Energy pipelines are critical elements of the national infrastructure for the transportation of oil and gas resource. These pipeline systems may extend hundreds of kilometers in length, traverse across terrain units with varied geotechnical properties and may be impacted by geohazards. The relative ground movement imposes forces on the buried pipeline that may cause local damage and impair the mechanical performance with respect to serviceability or strength limits. The current state-of-practice for the engineering design and integrity assessment of a buried energy pipeline is based on structural pipe/soil interaction models idealized using beam and spring elements. This approach can be deficient when analyzing complex pipeline/soil interaction events that need to account for complex boundary conditions, load transfer processes and failure mechanisms. Continuum finite element methods can address these deficiencies but require an integrated framework including experienced numerical analysts, laboratory tests to define input parameters for soil constitutive models and physical data to verify simulation procedures. In this paper, the framework for integration of these technical approaches in support of pipeline engineering design is discussed with reference to recent studies. The potential for improving current pipeline engineering practice is also explored.
|
