Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Dr Tom CharltonORCiD, Professor Mohamed Rouainia
Full text for this publication is not currently held within this repository. Alternative links are provided below where available.
© 2019 Elsevier Ltd. Uplift resistance provided by soil cover is a key aspect in the design of a buried offshore pipeline. The capacity must be sufficient to avoid upheaval buckling but prediction of the uplift resistance is complicated by disturbance of the soil structure during installation. Previous numerical investigations of pipeline uplift capacity in undrained clays have employed simple elasto-plastic models and consider a homogeneous clay. These simplifications neglect critical features of soil-pipeline interaction and may not describe the real mechanical behaviour. In this paper, an advanced kinematic hardening model implemented in a finite element code is used to capture the degradation of structure as a pipeline buried in a natural clay is lifted upwards. The spatial variability of clay structure is represented by a random field and Monte Carlo simulation used to characterise the response. This novel framework shows that clay structure has a significant effect on the failure mechanism and uplift capacity of a buried pipeline. The probabilistic approach accounts for the uncertainty in the condition of the clay backfill and reveals that the spatial distribution of intact and remoulded material can change the mode of failure, emphasising the importance of considering clay disturbance in design.
Author(s): Charlton TS, Rouainia M
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Ocean Engineering
Year: 2019
Volume: 186
Print publication date: 15/08/2019
Online publication date: 14/06/2019
Acceptance date: 27/03/2019
ISSN (print): 0029-8018
ISSN (electronic): 1873-5258
Publisher: Elsevier Ltd
URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oceaneng.2019.03.041
DOI: 10.1016/j.oceaneng.2019.03.041
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric