Failure Analysis of a Buried Pipeline Transporting Gas: Journal of Pipeline Systems Engi...

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• 10.1061/(ASCE)PS.1949-1204.0000090

Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and

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Recommend to Library Wilson, J. (2012). ”Failure Analysis of a Buried Pipeline Transporting Gas.” J. Pipeline Syst. Eng. Pract., 3
Email to a friend (1), 17–21.
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Current Issue Submitted: 29 December 2010
Most Viewed Accepted: 24 June 2011
Most Cited Published: 27 June 2011

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Submit a Paper ISSN (print): 1949-1190

Author Instructions ISSN (online): 1949-1204
Publisher: American Society of Civil Engineers
Notify Me! James F. Wilson, Ph.D, P.E.1
1
E-mail Alerts Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke Univ., Durham, NC 27708
RSS Feeds (corresponding author). E-mail: jwilson@duke.edu

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http://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/(ASCE)PS.1949-1204.0000090 06-Oct-15
Failure Analysis of a Buried Pipeline Transporting Gas: Journal of Pipeline Systems Engi... Page 2 of 2

The purposes of this study are to present a general analysis for the failure of a buried steel pipeline and to
apply the results to a case study. Energy methods and classical beam theory are employed to model the
pipeline behavior under simultaneous tension and transverse loading, loadings that arise from pipeline
undermining. The mathematical model is used to explain a case study in which a pipeline conveying natural
gas to an apartment building was undermined by the collapse of an adjacent, unshored trench wall. The fact
that the ground in the vicinity was water soaked from a broken water supply line exacerbated the sinking of
the pipeline into the trench, a movement that broke the pipeline at a T -joint downstream from the trench.
This failure led to a substantial gas explosion and fire in the apartment building, which resulted in five injuries
and three fatalities of the residents. In this case study, postaccident forensic data provided by the National
Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) were employed in a general analysis to explain the failure. These data
include eye-witness accounts, an engineering survey map of the pipeline resting in the trench, photographs of
the site and of the failed pipeline section, and tensile test and corrosion analysis reports for the pipeline steel.
This study illustrates the importance of shoring the walls of trenches to avoid undermining and damaging
adjacent buried pipelines.

Permalink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)PS.1949-1204.0000090
ASCE Subject Headings: Beams, Buried pipes, Energy methods, Gas pipelines, Failures
Author keywords: Beam theory, Buried pipelines, Energy methods, Pipeline analysis, Pipeline failure

Cited by
Mohsin, R., Majid, Z., and Yusof, M. (2014). "Safety distance between underground natural gas and water
pipeline facilities." Reliability Engineering & System Safety, 10.1016/j.ress.2014.06.008, 53-60.
Online publication date: 1-Nov-2014.
CrossRef
Shokouhi, S.. 2013. Improving the Seismic Performance of Buried Gas Pipelines Subjected to Near-Fault
Earthquakes using Friction Dampers. ICPTT 2013718-730.
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http://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/(ASCE)PS.1949-1204.0000090 06-Oct-15