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EFFECT OF VOIDS ON THE BENDING RESPONSE OF BURIED FLEXIBLE UTILITY PIPES
Session: General Geotechnique and Engineering Geology / Géotechnique générale et géologie de l'ingénieur
Heather Sales, Cementation Skanska (United Kingdom)
Jonathan Black, University of Sheffield (United Kingdom)
Richard Collins, University of Sheffield (United Kingdom)
Buried pipe infrastructure is of critical importance for the provision of fresh water supply and disposal of waste water. Pipe performance is sensitive to initial ground burial conditions and subsequent changes during serviceable life. Voids are frequently reported as a possible factor that accelerates deterioration of the pipe condition leading to ultimate premature failure in flexure or cracking. This study considers the effect of voids on a 0.3 m prototype flexible pipe using centrifuge model tests for fully supported and unsupported conditions buried in sand. Pipe stiffness and bending response for spherical void geometries 2 to 5 times that of the pipe diameter are evaluated when subjected to vertical surface loading. Digital image correlation was used to capture soil-pipe interaction mechanics. Increased pipe deformation and bending moment were observed with increased void size confirming that void formation may contribute in the overall failure of pipe infrastructure.
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