Part 2--Soil-pipe interaction Stress analysis methods for underground pipe lines Analysis of soil-pipe interaction involves investigation of soli forces, longitudinat/{ateral pipe movement Lang-Chaun Peng, Mechanical Engineer, AAA Technology and Specisities Co, Inc., Houston Because the iajor portion of « pipe Hine i normally buried, soil-pive interaction analysis is the «vost iazportant part of pipe live siress analysis. First, however, soil forces that axe acting on che pipe must be investigated. These forces differ semewhat from those encountered in foundation engineering problems. For instance, the oftencreferenesd Iateral pile loading data are hardly ap- plicable to a pipe line problem since a pile is driven into the soit vertically rather than buried horizontally and lateral pile movement is much smaller than pipe ine movernent. Fig. 5(2) shows a pipe line busied in a diteh. Because of the soll backfl} and the pipe’s own weight, the pipe eceives a soil pressure acting at its surface as shown in Fig. 5¢b). ‘This pressure creates a bonding stress on the yige wall and at the same time produces a soil friction force against any axial pipe movement. Except in highway or railroad crossings, the bending stress created by uneven soil pressure is negligible. If no casing is used at road crossings, bending stress due to soil pressure can be significant and should be evaluated using methods described by Spangler.’ The code requires that ‘his bending stress be combined with pressure hoop stress, and the combined sitess should be limited to 20 moxe than the specified smiuimum yicld strength (SMYS) Axial friction force. Friction force is the first soil force hal affects pipe movernent, ‘This section covers friction force that is created against the axial pipe movement. ‘Theorstically, friction force is equal to the product of Urietion coefficient and the total normal force acting Mav 1978 © PIPF LINE INnIISTRY all around the pipe. Since actual distribution of normal force, Fig. 5(b), js hard to determine for the purpose ol friction force calculation. x simplified model ax shown in Fig. 5(c) can be used. ‘The normal foree acting on the pipe meface can be divided into twp force, 1, and bottom force, H+ W, where Wy is the weight of the pipe and its content. Por a pipe buried in a ditch, the top soil foree can be cal culated by Marston's formula,’ but in cases where the soil cover depih ranges from one to three times the pipe inmneter, the Zorce can be taken 2s the waight of the soil surcharge over the pipe. Hence, axial friction foree can be written as: f= alW t+ Wo Wy) 12 or f= pl2yDA + We) /12 (9) in which, = Axial fsiction fozee, tbs./in. jorffcient of friction between pips and soil y= Density of backfill soil Ibs /it? D= Outside diameter of pipe, ft. H = Depth of soil cover to top of pipe, ft. W, = Weight of pipe and content, Ibs. fit The soll density and friction coefficient are obtained from soil tests performed along the pips fine route, In cases when test data are not available, the following we wp . Sol pressures, Wdesized mode! a Treneted pips Fig, §—Scil pressure distribution,8. Upwars b. Downward Fig, 6—Lateral sail forces. friction coefficient can be used:? sik 03 Sand 04 Gravel 05, ‘The above coefficients are the lower bond values equivae lent to the sliding friction. ‘The static coetficient of irc- tion can be as couch as 70 percent higher? Ver gipe lines buried below the water table, buoyant force should be subtracted from soil and pipe weight before entering Equation @ for calculation. Lateral soil force. Fig, 6 shows tmec diflereat Fateral soil forces normally encountered in pipe line analysis, Each Lateral force can be idealized, as in Fig. G(d}, into two stages: Flastic stage, where resistance force is pro- Portional to pipe displacement, and plastic. stage, where resistance remains constant regardless of displacement, ‘Though clastic constant can be evaluated direetly by test or published methods. they are generally very sexisi- tive to the dats gathered. An alienate method is to ealoulate from the more reliable ultimate resistance. Several authors liave reported that displacement required Xo meack ultimate resistance is about 15 to 2 percent of the pipe bottom depth." From this important finding, elastic constant can be calculated from ultimate resistance by taking 1.5 percent ‘of the total depth as yield displacement, Using 3.5. per- cont instead of 2 percent gives a more realistic secant uodulas which will underestimate the modulus for initial dGsplaceinent but somewhat overestimate the modulus at higher displacement. For a pipe line, underestimation of uly reine L A ee ee a tore e pion Yl 1 Fore ctbuon Ss ~ street Dleplaserent. 1. Longitusina arose dstrbution Fig, 7—Longttudinal movement. weal Actual Displacement — & Sidawara @. Force displacement initiat modsins is greatly compensared by the fact that less than perfect backfill compaction docs provicie initia softness. Wher a pipe moves horizontelly as in Fig. 6{c}, it caeates a passive soil presture at the front surface, aud at the same time receives an active soil force at the back Because of the arch action, a void will be createst behind the pipe as soon as it moves a small distance. and the active soil force can therefore be disregarded.” The only Tatezal fores is the passive soil force which can be written as: ai Fam (45-0 % Ge pA FD) tam (45-9 (193 Wuere 17 is the ultimate soll resistance, tbs/it,, and the other syinbuls are as previously defined, Sirleily speaking, Equation 10 is valid only when the soil cover, Hy is Tes than the pipe diameter, D. It will overestimate the 1e- sistance for desper soil covers. However, for a three diameter deep caver with dense granular soil, the over- estimation is only about 10 percent.” Thi variation of other parameters involved in soi) mech Taking 1.5 percent of the total depth as the yield dis, placement, the clastic constant can be writer as: u >: 0015 (Ht DY XE 819 y (E+) taut (45 +2) al Whese the elastic constant, K, in pounds per inch of pipe pet ioch displaccuent, is the product of saodulus of pas- sive resistance and pipe diamezer. Jt suoukd be noted that instead of determining soil modulus ¢, the constant 6? is determined. This is similar to the eR constant wed in the famous Towa flexible pipe deflection fornnda.* Longitudinal pipe movement. The flexibility problem originates from the expansion of the pipe. Therefore, the first step of flexibility analysis is to determine longitudinal ‘movement. Fig. 7 shows a pipe tine leaving a pump station, Point A is a seraper launching barrel and BCD represents 4 very Jong He, When the line is heated up, the end of pipe # will start wo move. The movement produces fric- tion force, {, while at the same time an end resistance, Q,develops because of soil passive fore and pipe stiffness, The moving portion of the pipe will extend gradually Gownstream to a point C where the ovement stops. s the moving pottion extends, friction forve also in- ‘ereages, and when the moving boundary reaches point ©, friction force plus ead force developed # enangh to sup- pres the expansion completely, Point Cis sometimes called virtual anchor point and the moving length, £, the active length. Because of the unequal amount of fiction fores re ceived, longitudinal stress along the active engt. varies from point t point, Distribution of longitudinal stress is shown in Fig. 7{b). At the seraper barrel end, the stress js tensile and equal to the pressure stress, ‘The tensile stress is reduced gradually dive to end force and friction force, then eventaally hecomes compressive if the fine is hot enough. Finally, ar point C, the compressive stress reaches maximnim and stays the same for the entire fully restrained portion, ‘The active Tongth of the fine can be determined by ‘equating friction force plus end force with the required anchor force obtained from Equation 6, that is: {L4Q=F ube (13) where Active length i, Anchar force or expansion force, Ihe, Q= Baul resistance force, lbs. Soll friction forea, Ibs,/in, ‘After the active Jength is determined, the end snovement, 9 car be calculated by multiplying the average expan= Sion rate with the length. The expansion race at © is zero, and the rate at end B is equivalent to the pull of the potential expansion force {or anchor force) minus end force, hence: 1 5 [oo dew ais substituting Equation 12 we have on 2 y= agep E @ (33) where y is the end deflection in inches. ‘The end deflection is proportional to the square of the net expansion force. The undergrmand piping is therefore nonlinear and cannot be solved by ditcct Hnear simula- tion, Latoral pipe movement. ‘Ihe lateral pipe movement is caused by longitudinal movement of @ pipe connected in the perpendicular direction, Fig. &(a) shows a long main fine pipe making a 90- degree tura to enter « pomp station. Expansion of the fong pipe AB hos caused the station pipe BC to move in the lateral direction. The fateral movement st corner B Long pipe Pastis sol owe 2 Elastic sol foro u 2 bo Guided cantiever elastic mode! . Fig, @—Leteral movement. fs y inch and decreases gradually toward point C where displacement is virtually zero. Because of the large movement, the soil is region 1-2 is in plastic stage offering constant passive force. The soil in region 2.3 i still in the static range that offers a re- sisting force proportional to local displacement. The ex- tent of region 1-2 depends on the magnitude of end mavement, and is nonexistent for som: low temperature lines, soil force generally resquices step-wise ulations. The pip- ing, however, can be conservatively treated as 3. guided ever elastic system which can be easily analyzed. As shown ia Pig. 8(b), the long pipe AB is conedered to be guided, allowing no rotation at the corer B. The soil force is considered ta be perfect clastic, offering re- sistance proportional to the local displacement, ‘This ap- prozch tends to underestimate the deflection because of the large soil force and sti boundary asnumed ‘On the contrary, the method will tend io overestimate the maient because of the sti! nenrotational comer B assumed, Since stzess is detenmined by the moment, it js apparent that the aproach is conservative. ‘To start the analysis, the system is cut into two free bedies as shown in the figure. ‘The long pipe AB is exactly the same as shown in Fig. 7{a) except the end moment, Af, Since the end moment does not affect the Jongitedinal moverncxit, we still can say: o> agar FO Hert: we have one equation but two wnknowns, y and Q. Therefore, anothier equation is needed from leg BC be- fore tke problem can be solved. "Te situation in eg BC i a bear on eats Foundation problem. The case is not quite the sate as aa ordinary pile problem where elastic modulus changes with depth fn the end, it most casey, is free to rotate. The pilefommuls, especially those that de not produce any end ‘moment, eanuot be used, ‘Leg BC aeewally represents one-half of an infinite beam on alastie foundation that is loaded with 2 concentrated foros, From literature citation 14, we can write: ye an Q Mee (35) in which, End displacement, in. Q=End force, Ibs K= Soil elastic constant, Ibs, in* E= Mocislus of elasticity of pipe, psi 1 = Moment of inertia of pipe, in.t Af = End bending mouient, inlbs. o—Vesr Substituting Equation 13 in Equation 14 and rearrang- ing the form, we have: Q=6-VO-F (16 where on=pr bat Alter the end force is detesmined, the end displacement and moment ean be calculated from Equations 14 and 15, respectively. Sample calculations. Assume the samse 20-inch diameter pipe, described in Part 1, is buried with 4 feet of soll cover aud the soll iv ey sail with a density of 125 Ibs.ffe? and un igieraal friction angle of 30 degrees, The displacement and stss of the pipe shown in Fig. 7 and ig. B can then be calculated as fellows: 1. Soll friction force, As discussed eacier, a sliding friction factor of O4 cxa bo used for the silty sand against the pipe. Assuming the spetifie weight of the crude is 0.83, the friction force ftom Equation 9 is: f04x 2x 105 x Dx 44 185.7) /12= 61.74 bs fim 2, Soll end force Q acting on the vertical entry ley of ‘Bg. 7 can be caloulated by adding side shears to quae tien 19. That is, Qa FH DP tae (+5) D4 HAD)*y Ky tang Bian 43 + 9/2) Bier B r) tant (60) 7+ (8 (8). 125 x 045 tan (90) 3 tam (60) 11,296 Ibs. in which Ky %0.5 is the coefficient of later soil pressure, . Active length is caloulated by Equation 12 as: Expansion force F 4 Longitudinal movement at the scraper barrel of Fig. 7 can be found from Equation 13: 1 X BAX WGN 1 x OL (706280 ~ 11296)*= 6.07 in, which is only slightly sualer than the fue end (Q= 0) expansion of 6.27 inches, In xeality the movement will be comsideraby smallex duc to the Jatoral soil Torce acting fon the station pipe as will be shown in the following. ‘The slacks in the main line will also absorb part of the movement. 5, Lateral soil force and elastic constant aze calculated by Equations £0 and 11, respectively. ’ Uap x 10s (5-4 BY tnt (4d + 15)=0020 tart, we= oss 105(4+ 22 \nt(45 +15) S494 Boe fin? 6."Then for the Fig. 8 pipe we have: : aia NTXBT RIP RIT 20,0079 in O=F+ Agere 0.0079 x 28.1. 27.9 X 108 x O18 ae 1346499 Tbs. 706280 + End force Q= €— VO + 1545495" — 706260" = 200102 Ibs. Gp. 200101 x 0.0079 _ € ‘B14 iad ‘This displacement greatly oxceeds the yield displacement of 0015 (H+ D) = 0085 ft.= 1.02 in, therefore the talealation is only a rough estimation. A’ more accurate analysis will requin: the consideration of the plastic soil force, The ead moment is calcuated by Equation 15: Q_ 200101 Mog Ox 0078 ‘The bending sires: without considering sttess intensifi- cation ia: End displacement, y= = 12864620 inelbs, M_ 12664620 nL which is about three times the allowable of $7,440 psi. s = 104,095 psiAlthough a step-wise computer simulation might reduce the stress somewhat, some remedies art still required. Part 2 conclusion, From the above discussion, it can be coneluded that: *# For a buried pipe ne, the pipe will expand toward the end or 2 bend, Dat tie central portion of the line will be fully restrained by the soil friction force, Total movement at the free end is inversely proportional to soll fiction force but is directly proportional to. the square of the temperature difference between operating and installation conditions. # Became of the lateral wil force, movement at a bend Js about one-half of movement at the free end. # For 20-inch standanl pipe at 190° F temperature difference, stress developed at the bend connecting 10 a long rin ie about three times the allowable stress. "Therefore proper care should be taken to reduce the sizess. The most often used methods are: {a} Install an anchor at about 20-diameter length away from the bend to reduce the movement, (b) Install soft material behind the pipe of the Interal eg. (6) Locally use thicker wall pipe near the bend area, (€) Adopt special back6ting procedure, A buried pipe bend without any particular attetion will take only about 60°F temperature raise if it is con nectet 10 a Jong run of pipe, ‘The techniques developed in this article are generally sufficient to handle the routine analyses. However, there are configurations that would require computerized step- wise Enear simulation. In susimary, the most difficult part of the soil pipe interaction analysis is 10 determine the soil characteris ties, Gnce the soil data are available, the analysis can be perionmed routinely. Unfortunately, we still lack reliable soil correlation formulas that can be used confidently by the analysis, Although the two soil formulas presented jn this article are simplifiad, they do give reasonable numbers. 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