The Investigation of Subsidence Effect on Buried Pipes in 3D Space

Abstract

Buried pipes in the modern societies are considered as lifelines with a vital and essential role in the human life cycle. The performance of buried pipes is affected by many factors such as ground surface subsidence. In this paper, the effect of subsidence on pipelines is investigated using a three-dimensional numerical modeling developed in FLAC3D software for four types of most commonly used pipes. The numerical results showed that ductile iron, steel, and polyethylene pipes with a diameter of 200 mm are stable in the presence of ground subsidence whereas the asbestos pipes at depths of 1 and 1.5 m are not stable; and thus should be buried deeper. In this regard, polyethylene pipes with equal diameter are recommended instead of asbestos pipes due to the high excavation and earth-filling costs and also environmental problems involved in the implementation of asbestos pipes.