Proceedings of the 6th International Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics Conference:

Confronting New Challenges and Sharing Knowledge, 11–13 September 2007, London, UK

THE INFLUENCE OF PIPE-SOIL INTERACTION ON

LATERAL BUCKLING AND WALKING OF PIPELINES –
THE SAFEBUCK JIP

DAS Bruton and M Carr

Atkins Boreas, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
DJ White
Centre for Offshore Foundation Systems, The University of Western Australia

Abstract
This paper addresses the influence of pipe-soil interaction on the design of pipelines susceptible to
lateral buckling and pipeline walking. The pipe-soil response is the largest uncertainty in the design of
such systems, and so generic guidance has been developed to guide the design process.
Force-displacement-response models were developed during Phase I of the SAFEBUCK joint-industry
project (JIP) based on large- and small-scale tests carried out by the SAFEBUCK JIP and project-specific
test data donated by JIP participants. These models are currently being applied by JIP participants on
a number of projects, to quantify the susceptibility to lateral buckling and pipeline walking, and design
safe and effective means to control these phenomena. However, of all the design parameters, the soil
response causes the greatest uncertainty in design because of the extreme sensitivity of design solu-
tions to the axial and lateral resistance imposed by the soil. Improving the understanding of pipe-soil
response provides the greatest scope for refining the design of such systems.
The purpose of this paper is to outline the significant influence that pipe-soil interaction has on the
pipeline design process and to highlight the way in which the inherent uncertainty in pipe-soil resist-
ance severely complicates pipeline design. The paper then describes the research, development and
model refinement that is ongoing to reduce the uncertainties.

1. Introduction the lateral-buckling design approach and to improve under-

Subsea pipelines are increasingly being required to operate
at higher temperatures and pressures. The natural tendency
of a hot pipeline is to relieve the resulting high axial stress in
the pipe wall by buckling. Such uncontrolled buckling can
have serious consequences for the integrity of a pipeline.
Consequently, the industry has generally sought to restrain
pipelines by trenching, burying and rock dumping, or to
relieve the stress with inline expansion spools.
A far more elegant and cost effective solution is to work
with rather than against the pipeline by controlling the for-
mation of lateral buckles along the route. Controlled lateral
buckling is an efficient solution for the relief of axial com-
pression. Indeed, as operating temperatures and pressures
increase further, lateral buckling may be the only economic
solution. This challenge has led to a radical advance in pipe-
line engineering with a greater need for robust lateral-buck-
ling design solutions. The SAFEBUCK JIP1 was initiated
to address this challenge and aims to raise confidence in
standing of the related phenomenon of pipeline walking.
The pipe-soil force displacement response is the largest
uncertainty in the design of such systems. With lateral
buckling it is necessary to understand the soil behaviour
at large displacements and through many cycles of loading
well beyond the point of failure. Such behaviour is outside
the bounds of conventional geotechnics or extensive earlier
research on pipeline stability. Most previous research into
pipe-soil interaction has been related to stability under hy-
drodynamic loading, with the aim being to ensure the pipe
remains in place. A lateral buckling design requires the pipe
to break out from the as-laid position and move across the
seabed, typically by several diameters.
The purpose of this paper is to outline the significant influence
that pipe-soil interaction has on the pipeline design process
and highlight the way in which the inherent uncertainty in
pipe-soil resistance severely complicates pipeline design.

133

OSIG final.indb 133 08/08/2007 23:12:45

 Bruton, Carr and White. The Influence of Pipe-Soil Interaction on Lateral Buckling and Walking of Pipelines –
2. Pipeline Structural Response
2.1 Pipeline installation
Pipe-soil interaction influences the behaviour of the pipe
from the moment installation commences. The interaction
between the pipeline touchdown loads, combined with the
dynamics of the pipe catenary, and the seabed surface soil
defines the initial pipeline embedment. The remoulding of
the soil that occurs during installation then influences the
axial resistance, affecting the conditions at which the pipe
becomes constrained2. Meanwhile the lateral resistance af-
fects the tightness of route curves that the installation con-
tractor can achieve.
Furthermore, the time that passes between installation and
operation modifies the pipe-soil response as the soil is con-
solidated under the weight of the pipe. This consolidation
leads to a small increase in pipe embedment and changes
the axial response associated with pipeline start-up. This is
particularly relevant for soft clays, where consolidation ef-
fects can significantly increase the soil strength close to the
pipe, increasing the resistance to first movement.
2.2 First load: general pipeline expansion behaviour
After installation, some residual effective lay tension remains
in a pipeline. This force is usually small in comparison with
the forces that develop in operation and is not considered
further here. When the internal pressure and temperature
increase to operating conditions the pipeline tends to ex-
pand, but this expansion is resisted by the axial resistance
between the pipe and the seabed. This restraint causes an
axial compressive force to develop in the pipeline.
The ends of a pipeline are usually free to expand, so the
force at the ends is zero. However, as the cumulative axial
resistance increases with distance from the pipe ends, the
force can increase to a condition of ‘full-constraint’, as il-
lustrated in Figure 1.
The fully constrained effective force presented in Figure 1
is the maximum effective axial force that can occur in a
pipeline. This fully constrained force drives the axial expan-
sion and structural response. The effective force is made up
of the (true) force in the pipe wall and the pressure induced
axial force. Since pressure and temperature vary along the
pipeline length, the fully constrained force also varies along
the length as the pipeline cools (with heat loss to the envi-
ronment). This is shown in Figure 1 by the slight fall in the
fully restrained force along the pipeline.
The gradual increase in effective axial force, from zero at the
free ends to full constraint, is due entirely to the cumulative
axial restraint provided by the seabed. The slope of this line
is equal to the axial resistance (force) per unit length, which
is typically modelled as being ‘frictional’, thus proportional
to the pipeline weight, W’µa. This force profile is funda-
mental to the pipeline response.
The important influence of a reduced level (or lower bound
estimate) of axial friction on the effective force profile is il-
lustrated in Figure 2.
In Figure 2 the maximum effective force in the lower bound
134
OSIG final.indb 134
the SAFEBUCK JIP
axial friction case, µa = 0.10, is reduced by a factor of about 4
and the pipeline does not reach full constraint. This illustrates
a real design case with upper and lower bound frictions based
on upper and lower bound soil responses that correspond to
drained and undrained axial movement, respectively.
The compressive effective axial force in a pipeline therefore
depends on the operating condition of the pipeline and
the axial friction. If the compressive force is large enough,
then the pipeline may be susceptible to lateral buckling.
Susceptibility to lateral buckling occurs when the com-
pressive force exceeds the ‘critical buckling force’, above
which the pipeline becomes unstable laterally. This lateral
instability is critically dependent upon the lateral soil re-
sistance (specifically the ‘lateral breakout resistance’ which
is discussed later). Once lateral buckles have formed, the
axial force drops significantly as pipe feeds axially into the
buckle, as shown in Figure 3.
In the example shown the pipeline has a totally different
behaviour at lower bound axial friction and upper bound
axial friction. The lower bound friction, µa = 0.10, means
that the pipeline will experience significantly greater end
expansion and will be susceptible to pipe-walking. The up-
per bound friction, µa = 0.58, means that the pipeline will
become fully constrained over some of its length so that
this section will not move axially, thus preventing walking.
However, the maximum effective force in the pipeline in-
creases significantly, making it much more susceptible to
lateral buckling.
Low axial friction will increase the end expansion and axial
feed-in to lateral buckles, while high levels of axial friction
will tend to reduce end expansion and feed-in, as illustrated
in Figure 4.
Figure 4 highlights how the different levels of axial resist-
ance fundamentally modify the pipeline expansion behav-
iour. At low axial friction, the pipe is fully mobilised and
expands from its centre, reaching a maximum displacement
in excess of 2.5m. At high axial friction, in the absence of
buckling, there is no displacement over the central section
(the pipe is fully constrained) and the pipe expands only at
the ends to reach a maximum displacement of about 1m.
With lateral buckling the expansion occurs over the whole
length, but the direction changes as feed-in occurs towards
the buckles, as well as towards the ends of the pipe, reduc-
ing the end expansion to about 0.7m.
For the low axial friction condition, the pipe is not suscep-
tible to buckling. The design challenge is then controlling
the extreme end expansion and its susceptibility to pipeline
walking. For the high axial friction condition, the pipe is
susceptible to buckling over most of its length, and the de-
sign challenge is controlling the severity of the buckles and
pipeline walking. Somewhere between these two extremes,
a pipeline design solution must be found.
2.3 Response in a buckle: first load
The attraction of the lateral buckling design solution is in
the reduction in compressive axial force that occurs in the
pipeline. However, the buckling displacement results in sig-
08/08/2007 23:12:46
 Proceedings of the 6th International Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics Conference:
Confronting New Challenges and Sharing Knowledge, 11–13 September 2007, London, UK

Figure 1: Effective axial force in a straight pipeline Figure 3: Effective axial force in a short pipeline with lateral
buckles

Figure 2: Effective axial force for a range of friction in a Figure 4: Displacement along a short pipeline with lateral
straight pipeline buckles

nificant bending moment at the crown of the buckle. This
moment can be very high and stresses in excess of yield are
normal (although these are relatively limited in axial extent).
Thus, under the lateral buckling philosophy, although the
axial force is reduced, the bending stresses are significantly
increased. This can ultimately lead to a local buckling fail-
ure with associated deformation of the pipe cross-section.
At start-up, the soil ahead of the buckle crown is heavily
remoulded as a berm of soil builds up in front of the lat-
erally sweeping pipe (Figure 5). The lateral displacements
involved are very significant; displacements of 10 or 20 di-
ameters are typical (in absolute terms, displacement in the
range 2 to 10m has been observed in operating pipelines).
The length of pipe over which the lateral displacement oc-
curs is typically between 100 and 300m (the lateral scale is
exaggerated in Figure 5).
The lateral resistance during pipe movement governs the
level of curvature and bending stress in
the pipe. Lateral soil resistance is usually Figure 5: Side-scan sonar image of a lateral buckle
the largest uncertainty in designing for
lateral buckling and unfortunately has a
significant influence on the design limit
states, as illustrated in Figure 6. This fig-
ure shows the effect of the lateral resist-
ance, expressed as a friction coefficienta,
on the limit state utilisation within the
crown of the buckle.
Figure 6 shows that low lateral resistance is extremely desir-
able since it produces a much lower bending severity in the
crown of the buckle. It is also beneficial from a buckle for-
mation point of view (as discussed later). However, a quite
small increase in lateral resistance can significantly increase
the design-limit usage factor, so that uncertainty in lateral
resistance is likely to compromise the design (and must not
be underestimated).
If the loads within the buckle are too high, then the de-
sign must seek to reduce these. The severity of the buck-
ling problem is driven by how much pipe feed-in must be
absorbed by the buckle. Decreasing the distance between
buckles reduces the feed-in and hence controls the severity.
The lateral-buckling design solution relies on the regular
formation of lateral buckles so that the load in each does
not exceed design limits (local buckling, strain capacity or
fatigue). This approach defines the maximum allowable

a The lateral response of a pipe resting on clay

soil is not truly ‘frictional’, as discussed later
in section 3.1.

135

OSIG final.indb 135 08/08/2007 23:12:48

 Bruton, Carr and White. The Influence of Pipe-Soil Interaction on Lateral Buckling and Walking of Pipelines –
buckle spacing, or virtual anchor spacing (VAS)b , which is
typically thousands of metres.
In Figure 6, it is shown that reducing the distance between
buckles (equivalent to a reduction in the VAS from 2.5 to
2.0 km) reduces the loading. A greater reduction in VAS
will reduce the loading further, but this can make it dif-
ficult to ensure that the buckles form reliably. If the spacing
cannot be reduced further, then the only other approach
is to reduce the lateral resistance. In Figure 6 this would
be required if the lateral resistance is expected to be much
higher than an equivalent friction coefficient of 1.0; this
would mean adopting alternative buckle control methods
to achieve system integrity.
Consequently, the pipeline designer has two ways of con-
trolling the design problem:
• Decrease the distance between buckles
• Decrease the lateral resistance.
Both of these solutions lead to the adoption of buckle ini-
tiation techniques (Section 2.5).
2.4 Response in a buckle: cyclic behaviour – influence of
berms
In operation, as the pipeline experiences fluctuations in
pressure and temperature, the pipe cycles back and forth
across the same patch of seabed. Surface soil, swept ahead
of the pipe on each cycle, then builds up into berms at the
extremes of pipe displacement. Subsequent consolidation
increases the strength of the soil berms after disturbance.
Pipe feeds axially into and out of the buckle with each cycle.
On unloading, the pipeline attempts to return to the as-laid
position but is prevented from doing so by both axial and
lateral pipe-soil resistance.
Without soil berms, numerical modelling with lateral re-
sistance calculated using a single friction coefficient shows
that buckles will grow in amplitude with each cycle. In real-
ity, soil berms restrict the growth of the buckle so that cy-
clic displacements remain almost constant over a number of
cycles. This increased restraint in the buckle causes higher
stress ranges in operation, leading to a higher level of fa-
tigue damage. This effect is illustrated by the example in
Figure 7.
This example clearly illustrates the influence of soil berms,
although much uncertainty remains in predicting the level
of restraint provided by berms. Currently, this uncertainty
is addressed in design by assuming a range of berm resist-
ance to assess the sensitivity on allowable loading.
2.5 Buckle initiation
Buckle initiation is governed by three parameters: (i) the
effective compressive force in the pipeline, which is a func-
tion of axial resistance; (ii) out-of-straightness (OOS) fea-
tures; and (iii) lateral breakout resistance. Although only
three parameters are involved, a number of factors feed into
b VAS is the distance between virtual anchors that form to each side of
the buckle, usually equivalent to the spacing between lateral buckles.
136
OSIG final.indb 136
the SAFEBUCK JIP
each parameter and there is significant uncertainty over the
true magnitude of each. Lateral breakout resistance is gen-
erally the largest uncertainty.
If lateral buckles are initiated at regular intervals along the
pipeline, the loads are effectively shared between buckle
sites. However, the shorter the spacing between buckle ini-
tiators, the lower the probability is of buckles forming at
each site as desired. Therefore, selecting a suitable spacing is
often a difficult design compromise between these compet-
ing requirements.
If there is no strategy to form buckles at regular intervals
along a pipeline, they will form randomly and (generally)
less frequently than if an initiation strategy is employed.
This random formation may produce an acceptable design.
However, the large uncertainty in pipe-soil resistance means
that the pattern of formation is extremely challenging to
predict. In all but the most benign cases, it is impossible to
demonstrate that inherent buckling will occur to an accept-
able level of reliability. In these cases, an engineered buckle
initiation technique must be adopted.
2.5.1 Buckle initiation techniques
A number of methods are available to initiate buckling at a
controlled spacing; these include:
• Snake-lay (Figure 8), where the pipe is laid with regular
tight-radius route curves
• Vertical upset (Figure 9), where rock or pipe sleepers are
used to raise the pipe off the seabed
• Local weight reduction (Figure 10), where distributed
buoyancy or additional insulation coating is applied, or
weight coating is reduced or removed.
For the snake-lay method the lateral restraint is governed
by the lateral breakout resistance (discussed later), while the
OOS is defined by the tightest curvature for which that
installation contractor can install. This curvature is gov-
erned by two parameters: lateral breakout resistance and lay
tension. In reality, tighter than average design curvatures
usually occur due to installation dynamics, but these are
difficult to predict in advance of installation.
The weight reduction and vertical upset solutions both
provide a vertical OOS to encourage buckle formation,
although this is perhaps easier to quantify in the vertical
upset solution. Both techniques also benefit from the de-
sign by reducing the pipe weight or lifting the pipe off the
seabed, reducing contact with the seabed and therefore de-
creasing the lateral resistance across the buckle. This reduc-
tion in loading means that fewer lateral buckles are needed
to share the load. Therefore, buckles can be spaced further
apart, which increases the reliability of buckle formation.
The benefit that these techniques bring has resulted in their
use on a number of challenging deepwater projects (e.g.
Harrison et al.3).
2.5.2 Modelling issues
Special consideration is required in zones where the local ef-
fective pipe weight changes due to loss of contact with the
seabed, for example at sleepers or at the start of a distributed
08/08/2007 23:12:49
 Proceedings of the 6th International Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics Conference:
Confronting New Challenges and Sharing Knowledge, 11–13 September 2007, London, UK
Figure 6: Typical design limits for a light pipe with a range of
lateral
Figure 7: Displaced shape at the buckle (a) without soil berms
and (b) with soil berms
buoyancy section. Such features, introduced deliberately to
control lateral buckling, require careful implementation of
the pipe soil response in finite element analysis (FEA). A dis-
tinction must be made between the pipe effective weight, W’,
and the local contact force between the pipe and the soil, V.
The same approach is also applicable to spans, which can oc-
cur along the line and may also act as buckle initiators.
Particular attention should be given to the definition of soil
resistance at:
• The span touchdown points (TDP) to each side of a
sleeper or span
• The start and end of distributed buoyancy sections, where
there is a sudden change in diameter and pipe weight.
The touchdown loads to each side of a sleeper are typi-
cally 60% greater than the effective pipe weight. The pipe
will experience significant additional lateral restraint in
these touchdown regions to each side of the sleeper, which
strongly influences the load in the lateral buckle. This effect
is shown in Figure 11, which shows the plan, elevation and
vertical load across a lateral buckle over a sleeper for a lower
and upper bound value of lateral resistance.
OSIG final.indb 137
Figure 8: Typical snake-lay configuration
(exaggerated vertical scale)
Figure 9: Vertical upset buckle initiators using sleepers (typi-
cally 2 to 3 joints of large diameter pipe)
Figure 10: Local weight reduction buckle initiators using dis-
tributed buoyancy
This example in Figure 11 includes a reduction in pipe
weight by the addition of buoyancy between 900 and
1100m, thus combining the vertical upset and local weight
reduction techniques. It is shown that the highest vertical
load occurs within the lateral buckle and is a significant
influence on the its shape. A design approach that provides
an increase in lateral resistance in these zones is necessary,
usually by defining the lateral resistance as a function of
the local contact force between the pipe and the soil. This
approach leaves the FEA to take account of seabed stiffness
and bending of the pipe in the vertical plane.
A realistic value of seabed stiffness is necessary in design to
arrive at realistic contact pressures. A very stiff seabed (hard
contact) can overestimate the contact pressures and lateral
resistance at the TDP to each side of the sleeper. A realistic
seabed stiffness to be adopted in design for soft seabeds is
typically in the range of 15 to 50kN/m/m, but default sea-
bed stiffness values in FEA are often much higher than this.
The variation in diameter that occurs at sections of distrib-
uted buoyancy should also be captured in FEA models to
ensure correct modelling of the pipe-soil contact regions.
137
08/08/2007 23:12:52
 Bruton, Carr and White. The Influence of Pipe-Soil Interaction on Lateral Buckling and Walking of Pipelines –
2.6 Pipeline walking
When a pipeline is heated it will expand, but this expansion
is opposed by axial resistance. When the pipeline is cooled
it contracts, but the axial resistance prevents the pipeline
contracting to its original position. Subsequent shutdown
and restart cycles are normally accompanied by steady-state
expansion and contraction between established pipe-end
positions. However, in some cases this cycling can be ac-
companied by global axial movement of the pipeline, which
is termed ‘pipeline walking’. Over a number of thermal cy-
cles, walking can lead to significant global displacement of
the pipeline. Walking is not a limit state for the pipeline
itself, but without careful consideration can lead to failure
at the mid-line or end connections.
The SAFEBUCK JIP investigated the pipeline walking phe-
nomenon, which has occurred in a number of pipelines and
led to at least one failure. A study4 carried out by the JIP
defined the key factors that influence pipeline walking and
provided guidance and analytic expressions for assessing the
severity of pipe walking.
Figure 12: Pipeline walking due to seabed slope for a range of
axial friction coefficients
138
OSIG final.indb 138
the SAFEBUCK JIP
Figure 11:
Influence of
touchdown
load and
lateral
resistance on
buckle shape
The main causes of pipeline walking are:
• Tension at the end of the flowline, associated with a steel
catenary riser (SCR)
• A global seabed slope along the pipeline length
• Thermal gradients along the pipeline during changes in
operating conditions.
The key parameters that influence pipeline walking are (i)
the axial resistance response and (ii) the pipeline length over
which walking occurs. Pipeline walking is traditionally as-
sociated with pipelines that are short enough not to reach a
condition of full-constraint (see Figure 2); such pipelines are
typically less than 5km in length. With the current increase
in pipeline operating temperatures, ‘short’ pipelines can be
many kilometres in length. The phenomenon can also oc-
cur in longer lines where lateral buckling has occurred, as
the lateral buckles effectively divide the long pipeline into a
series of shorter lines.
The presence of lateral buckles dramatically changes the
walking response of a pipeline, and the presence of high
Figure 13: Effective force distribution along a walking pipeline
restrained by an anchor
08/08/2007 23:12:56
 Proceedings of the 6th International Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics Conference:
Confronting New Challenges and Sharing Knowledge, 11–13 September 2007, London, UK
thermal transients can lead to buckle growth over a number
of load cycles. Lateral buckles are a significant influence on
the walking response, which highlights the need to under-
stand this interaction. Currently the interaction between
walking and buckling is assessed on a case-by-case basis by
FEA in detailed design.
The example in Figure 12 illustrates the influence of pipe-
line length (or buckle spacing) and axial friction, µa, on
pipeline walking for a range of seabed slopes. In many cases,
as shown in Figure 12, a high level of axial resistance can
reduce walking significantly. Pipeline length (or section
length) is a significant parameter in the assessment of pipe-
line walking, but axial resistance has a greater influence. If
the pipe weight is sufficiently high, or the fully constrained
force sufficiently low, walking can stop altogether.
2.7 Control of pipe walking
When walking is considered unacceptable, it becomes nec-
essary to anchor the flowline. Hold-back suction anchors
are commonly employed to control pipeline walking. In
most cases these anchors allow expansion towards the an-
chor but prevent the end of the pipe pulling back much
beyond the installed position; this ensures that the effective
compression in operation is not increased.
However, as walking commences the anchor loads up, until
after some tens of cycles, the anchor experiences the full shut-
down tensile load. This restraining anchor load induces ten-
sile loads along the length of the pipeline. The force profile at
shutdown and the restraining anchor load is then defined by
the level of axial resistance, as shown in Figure 13.
In the example shown in Figure 13, walking is caused by
the presence of a steel catenary riser with a nominal tension
of 1MN at one end of the pipeline (at KP 0). At this tension
an anchor is required at the opposite end of the pipeline
with a capacity of 3.5MN. The effective tension within the
pipeline exceeds 4.5MN at KP 3.0. This is a significant lev-
el of tension, which introduces a further design challenge:
route curve stability. The concern is that this tension could
be sufficient to cause instability of the pipeline – through
ratcheting lateral displacement – at the route curves. This
instability can pull out the curve, allowing further pipe to
walk, until the curvature is small enough to be stable.
The minimum stable radius of curvature is governed by the
minimum lateral resistance that the soil can provide. If the
lateral resistance is low, then this radius of curvature may be
so large as to compromise field architecture. This issue can
lead to major field layout changes and should be addressed
as early as possible in front-end engineering design. The in-
stability of route curves has led in the past to some radical
changes to field architecture to eliminate route curves or
increase their radius. In some cases, the production facility
has been relocated, in others the flowline has been split into
two straight sections with a mid-line tie-in, which has seri-
ous capital expenditure (CAPEX) implications.
Although a low level of lateral resistance is a disadvantage
for stability of route curves, it is an advantage for reliable
OSIG final.indb 139
buckle formation. This once again illustrates the need to
bound soil resistance; there is no conservative extreme.
2.8 Key influences of pipe-soil resistance
The preceding examples demonstrate the significant influ-
ence that pipe-soil interaction has on pipeline design. The
axial pipe-soil resistance affects
• The maximum axial effective force in the pipeline
• The effective force available for reliable buckle initiation
• Pipe-end expansion and feed-in to lateral buckles
• Pipeline walking, including the rate of walking and the
propensity to walk.
Similarly, lateral pipe-soil resistance affects
• The lateral instability that is required for buckle initiation
• Route curve stability under axial tension
• The lateral buckle bending load at large displacements
• The cyclic lateral buckle loading due to soil berms.
The influence of pipe-soil resistance on these various issues
is often conflicting. For example, high lateral resistance is
beneficial for curve stability, but detrimental to the bending
loads developed in a buckle. High axial resistance is benefi-
cial for controlling feed-in to a buckle, but increases the sus-
ceptibility to buckling in the first place. Consequently, it is
not possible to define a safe resistance. Instead, it is necessary
to bound the pipe-soil resistance and ensure that the design
is acceptable throughout the potential design envelope.
3. Current Approach to Modelling Pipe-Soil
Interaction
3.1 Soil resistance models
The interaction between the pipe and the seabed is incor-
porated into the structural analysis of a pipeline – which is
usually finite element-based – by attaching ‘spring-slider’
elements at intervals along the pipe. This approach is analo-
gous the t-z and p-y load transfer methods of analysing pile
response. The most basic pipe-soil elements provide a bilin-
ear elastic–perfectly plastic response in the axial and lateral
directions. However, in order to capture the more advanced
effects of interaction, particularly the large displacement
behaviour, it is necessary to introduce subroutines in which
the element response is modified to account for brittle brea-
kout behaviour and cyclic berm growth.
The most simple bilinear models involve a limiting value
of axial or lateral pipe-soil resistance, which is calculated
using a simple friction law (Coulomb friction) linking
the effective pipe weight to the maximum available resist-
ance. A suitable axial and lateral friction coefficient can be
used successfully for some flowline design functions (e.g.
simple stability calculations or end-expansion) and can be
employed in conceptual evaluation of lateral buckling, if
treated with care. However, a single friction coefficient is
not appropriate in detailed numerical modelling design
for lateral buckling, particularly for large-amplitude lateral
movement, where a frictional model represents an oversim-
plification of the behaviour.
139
08/08/2007 23:12:56
 Bruton, Carr and White. The Influence of Pipe-Soil Interaction on Lateral Buckling and Walking of Pipelines –
Nevertheless, it is common to model many tens of kilome-
tres of pipeline within a single FE analysis. It is therefore
necessary to keep the pipe-soil interaction models relatively
simple. It is not feasible to model the soil domain around
the pipe along the entire pipeline length, and so it remains
necessary to encapsulate the pipe-soil behaviour into the
response of a single node. Non-linear force displacement re-
sponses are therefore used to represent pipe-soil behaviour.
These responses are usually presented as an equivalent fric-
tion coefficient – that is the maximum resistance divided by
the submerged weight of the pipe. This coefficient is then
updated automatically throughout the analysis to simulate
the underlying behaviour.
A friction coefficient is an unusual concept to apply to the
limiting resistance of a clay, which is usually characterised
by an undrained strength. However, this is a convenient
way of presenting the data for input into design using ana-
lytical or finite element based models and remains compa-
rable with historic approaches for pipe-soil interaction. This
terminology should not, however, be taken to indicate that
lateral pipe behaviour is purely frictional; the limiting lat-
eral and axial resistance is not solely dependent on the pipe
weight, but is significantly influenced by the embedment
and soil conditions.
3.2 Interaction between axial and lateral resistance
Axial and lateral resistance should be treated as independ-
ent parameters in design for any given set of soil conditions.
Since the axial resistance response is global – affecting long
sections of pipeline – the total axial resistance is negligibly
influenced by the localised mobilisation of lateral resistance.
This approach can provide a low assessment of axial resist-
ance where axial and lateral interaction is possible locally,
at specific regions of a lateral buckle away from the crown.
Axial resistance involves shearing at the pipe-soil surface,
whereas lateral resistance involves failure within the soil
ahead of the pipe. These mechanisms have minimal inter-
action. However, in drained conditions, lateral loading on
a pipe will increase the effective stresses between the pipe
and the soil, raising the available axial resistance. Therefore,
treating axial and lateral resistance as independent quanti-
ties is likely to underestimate the axial resistance at specific
regions of the lateral buckle where drained axial and lateral
displacement occurs simultaneously; this approach is usu-
ally conservative.
Caution is necessary with some FEA software that includes
built-in soil elements. These often combine axial and lateral
resistance using an elliptical combined yield surface. This is
non-conservative as it results in reduced lateral resistance
when axial resistance is mobilised. In short, any combina-
tion of lateral and axial resistance causes a reduction of lim-
iting resistance on both axes.
3.3 Pipeline embedment
3.3.1 Definition of pipeline embedment
Pipe embedment is defined as the depth of penetration of
the invert (bottom of pipe) relative to the undisturbed sea-
bed. Pipeline embedment therefore influences the pipe-soil
140
OSIG final.indb 140
the SAFEBUCK JIP
contact area, which affects the axial resistance, and the pas-
sive soil resistance against the pipe, which affects the lateral
break-out force. Heave of soil against the shoulders of the
pipe raises the contact area above the value for a wished-in-
place pipe at the same embedment. Figure 14 illustrates the
initial embedment of a pipeline.
3.3.2 Embedment uncertainties
The current model and background for prediction of em-
bedment has already been published by the SAFEBUCK
JIP5. However, pipeline embedment is notoriously difficult
to predict. The values of as-laid embedment predicted using
this and other models6 is generally found to be substan-
tially exceeded in practice. This discrepancy is because the
touchdown load is actually cyclic in nature, due to dynamic
effects including vessel heave and hydrodynamic loading of
the pipe catenary. This increase in embedment is captured in
design by multiplying the embedment found from a static
embedment calculation by a ‘dynamic embedment factor’,
which is a function of the lay vessel dynamics, lay rate, lay
tension, pipeline configuration and environmental loading
during installation. However, these secondary variables are
not known prior to installation. Over-embedment, due to
the uncertain and variable influence of the laying process, is
the main source of uncertainty in the prediction of pipeline
embedment and breakout resistance.
The dynamic embedment factor carries significant uncer-
tainty. Comparison between field experience for soft clay
seabeds with shear strengths of 2 to 4kPa and predictions
from static analysis (based on the as-laid pipe weight mul-
tiplied by a suitable stress concentration factor at the TDP)
give a typical dynamic embedment factor in the order of
1.0 to 3.0. On stiff clay seabeds with shear strength exceed-
ing 100kPa, the factor can be in the order of 5.0 to 8.07.
Further work is ongoing in this area, but evaluation has
been hampered by the limited availability of suitable data
from installed pipelines. Simulation of the lay process is
possible in model scale testing, but the input parameters
related to the motion of the vessel and hydrodynamic load-
ing of the lay catenary are difficult to assess.
A further complication related to pipe embedment is the
definition of the soil surface, which forms the datum for
observed levels of embedment on installed pipelines. In situ
test data of shear strength often does not register an increase
in resistance at the observed soil surface level, even when
using a sensitive T-bar penetrometer. This can either be be-
cause the T-bar has already penetrated the surface during
placement of the seabed frame, leading to some depth offset
between the visual observations and the in situ test data.
Alternatively, the visible surface layer may be so weak that its
significance can be overlooked. In deep water, a very weak
layer of soil about 70 to 100mm thick is commonly found
at the surface and its presence is also commonly ignored.
However, any visual assessment of pipeline embedment
from post-installation surveys will include this weak layer.
3.4 Axial pipe-soil interaction
3.4.1 Definition of axial resistance
Axial pipe-soil resistance is often modelled using a simple
08/08/2007 23:12:57
 Proceedings of the 6th International Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics Conference:
Confronting New Challenges and Sharing Knowledge, 11–13 September 2007, London, UK
Figure 14:
Initial embedment
of a pipeline
friction coefficient. However, some axial displacement must
occur to reach full axial resistance, so that small axial move-
ments can occur at quite low loads. This behaviour influ-
ences the initiation of buckling by allowing small OOS
features to grow at quite small loads.
In addition, when the pipe is initially loaded, an axial ‘brea-
kout’ or peak in resistance can occur that falls away to a
residual axial friction after breakout. The displacement at
which this peak occurs is defined as the ‘mobilisation dis-
placement’, illustrated in Figure 15.
Two stages of axial pipe-soil interaction should be considered
in design, (i) breakout resistance and (ii) residual resistance.
Breakout axial resistance: A significant peak in axial resist-
ance can occur when the pipe moves axially for the first
time, or after some time at rest. This first movement is typi-
cally associated with buckle formation (initiation) and with
shutdown after some time at rest under steady-state operat-
ing conditions. This peak is not expected to occur on restart,
unless the pipeline has been shutdown for some time.
Residual axial resistance: Once the pipe has started to
move, residual axial friction will control the pipe-end ex-
pansion/contraction and axial feed-in/feed-out to each lat-
eral buckle. The term ‘residual’ is used by analogy with the
residual friction angle that is mobilised within fine-grained
soils after continued shearing along a single plane.
3.4.2 Axial resistance uncertainties
It is clear that pipeline walking tends to reduce and can stop
altogether at high levels of axial resistance. This reaffirms
the need to understand and better predict axial resistance in
soft clays, in particular the need to predict if the response is
likely to be drained or undrained.
Pipe laying is an undrained process for typical rates of lay-
ing on typical soft clays, so the effective stress at the pipe-
soil interface usually remains close to zero, which was the
equilibrium effective stress at the soil surface prior to laying
of the pipe. Positive excess pore pressure is generated to bal-
ance the pipe weight.
During a period of equalisation, the excess pore pressure
dissipates, and the effective stress at the pipe-soil interface
increases to balance the applied pipe weight. This develop-
ment of effective stress governs the availability of axial pipe-
soil resistance. Theoretical solutions indicate that the ma-
jority of consolidation typically occurs within one month
of laying, even in low permeability natural clays. These so-
lutions allow the pipe-soil effective stress at the time when
the pipe enters operation to be estimated. At this point,
OSIG final.indb 141
the undrained strength of the soil beneath the pipe is likely
to differ from the in situ value due to two mechanisms: (i)
remoulding during pipe embedment, which reduces the
strength, and (ii) consolidation and a rise in effective stress
after embedment, which increases the strength.
The sum of the normal contact stresses around the pipe
periphery exceeds the vertical contact force, V, due to the
curved shape of the pipe surface. A simple analysis of this
‘wedging’ effect based on an elastic stress field indicates that
the ratio of the vertical to normal contact force increases
linearly from 1.0 to 1.25 as the pipe embedment rises from
0 to 0.4 diameters8.
Traditional axial resistance models for ‘cohesive’ soils de-
fine the axial resistance of the soil as a product of the shear
strength and the contact area between pipe and soil (which
is itself governed by the pipe embedment) and a multiplier,
α. As the pipe is displaced during breakout, it is assumed
that the shear strength reduces to the remoulded shear
strength of the soil, defined by the soil sensitivity, giving
peak and residual values of resistance (Figure 15).
This model is analogous to the total stress ‘alpha’ method of
axial pile shaft capacity. It is described as undrained, meaning
that excess pore water pressure is assumed not to dissipate.
To use this model, it is necessary to assess a suitable value
of α which accounts for (i) any changes in undrained shear
stress, su, due to the laying and equalisation processes and
(ii) any difference between soil-soil and pipe-soil shearing.
The pipe-soil contact perimeter must also be estimated.
Alternatively, axial friction can be defined using a ‘drained’
model – analogous to the ‘beta’ effective stress approach for
axial pile shaft capacity. In contrast to pile design, the con-
tact stresses between a pipe and the seabed are known, being
due to the pipe weight (with a modification for the ‘wedging’
effect described earlier). The drained axial resistance can be
calculated based on this effective contact force (noting the
possibility that some lay-induced excess pore pressure may
remain) multiplied by the soil friction coefficient, tanφ.
While this drained friction coefficient is simpler to define,
it is significantly influenced by the level of effective stress,
which lies below that considered in conventional geotech-
nics. At the effective stress levels of 2 to 10kPa generated by
typical pipeline weights, the drained friction angle of soft
clays significantly exceeds that measured by traditional test-
Figure 15: Axial resistance response with mobilisation dis-
placement and breakout
141
08/08/2007 23:12:57
 Bruton, Carr and White. The Influence of Pipe-Soil Interaction on Lateral Buckling and Walking of Pipelines –
ing apparatus operating at usual effective stress levels. The dif-
ference can be critical to pipeline design, as demonstrated by
the preceding examples. Friction coefficients as high as unity
(corresponding to friction angles in the range 40–50º) have
been measured for soft deepwater clays at low stress levels.
During fast axial pipe movement, the apparent friction
coefficient that should be used in the ‘beta’ effective stress
model may increase or decrease depending on whether neg-
ative or positive excess pore pressure is generated by shear-
ing at the pipe-soil interface; this tendency depends on the
current over-consolidation ratio (OCR) of the soil.
Since undrained (fast) and drained (slow) responses gen-
erally provide very different values of axial resistance, it is
important to consider the interaction between the available
resistance and the resulting pipe velocity. An analysis based
on drained parameters that yields high pipe velocities is
meaningless, and vice versa. Limited field data is available
on pipe velocities during operation, but one analysis exam-
ple is illustrated in Figure 16, which shows some typical
pipe velocities during a shutdown and restart cycle.
The velocities shown here are generally quite low and only
exceed 0.2mm/s at locations close to the pipeline ends (KP 0
and KP 7.5) and then for quite short durations. The impli-
cation is that the axial response is likely to remain drained,
but this is by no means certain.
The important transition from undrained to drained condi-
tions is not well understood. While dissipation of the excess
pore pressure from laying is expected to occur relatively
quickly, it does not prevent undrained conditions from be-
ing re-established under conditions of rapid or large pipe
displacements. However, re-consolidation after axial move-
ment is likely to be quicker than after embedment, since
only a small region of soil at the pipe surface is sheared
during axial motion. This topic is an area of ongoing re-
search under Phase II of the SAFEBUCK JIP to improve
the fundamental understanding and better define the most
appropriate axial resistance models and test methods.
3.5 Lateral pipe-soil interaction
3.5.1 Definition of lateral resistance
While lateral breakout loads have been the subject of much
research and published papers, until recently there has been
little guidance on modelling lateral resistance for the large
cyclic displacements of typically 10 or 20 diameters experi-
enced in lateral buckling.
The current models and background for prediction of brea-
kout and residual resistance have already been published by
the SAFEBUCK JIP5. The simplified response is presented
as an equivalent friction coefficient, H/V, where H and V are
the horizontal and vertical load on the pipe per unit length,
respectively.
A simplified force-displacement lateral-friction response,
based on model tests, is illustrated in Figure 17.
Four stages of lateral pipe-soil interaction should be con-
sidered in design, (i) breakout resistance (ii) suction release
(iii) residual resistance and (iv) cyclic lateral resistance.
142
OSIG final.indb 142
the SAFEBUCK JIP
Breakout lateral resistance: A significant peak in lateral re-
sistance occurs when the pipe first moves laterally (point 1
in Figure 17). The size of this peak depends on the level of
initial embedment (Figure 18). Breakout resistance is criti-
cal to the initiation of buckles and is also associated with
lateral stability at route curves, when a pipeline can become
unstable under tensile load.
Suction release: The breakout force includes the effect of suc-
tion between the pipe and soil, which is released (point 2 in
Figure 17) as a crack forms between the back of the pipe and
the soil. Suction release has little influence on subsequent
behaviour. For very slow loading, this crack may form prior
to the full mobilisation of breakout resistance. In this case,
the breakout load will be smaller and no suction release will
be evident. However, the initial breakout of the pipeline is
usually a fast event, and some level of tension is sustained at
the rear of the pipe, leading to a two-way failure mechanism
involving soil ahead of and behind the pipe.
Residual lateral resistance: Once the pipe has started to
move, the residual lateral resistance drops or rises to a
steady-state value at large displacements (point 3 in Figure
17) as the pipe pushes a berm of surface soil across the sea-
bed. The residual resistance during the first loading cycle
controls the lateral displacement at which the first buckle
stabilises, defining the initial shape of the lateral buckle and
the peak bending stress in the pipe.
Cyclic lateral resistance: As the pipe undergoes cycles of
shutdown and restart during operation, the pipe cycles
back and forth across the same patch of seabed. Surface soil,
swept ahead of the pipe on each cycle (points 5 and 8 in
Figure 17), builds up into berms at the extremes of the pipe
displacement (points 6 and 9 in Figure 17). These berms
offer significant resistance to pipe movement and define the
shape of the buckle in operation. Suction release also oc-
curs as the pipe pulls away from each berm (points 4 and
7 in Figure 17). The release usually occurs as a crack forms
between the back of the pipe and the soil, but during steady
cycling a lump of soft remoulded soil can adhere to the rear
of the pipe, so a more gentle suction release occurs at some
distance from the berm. Inclusion of the suction release
behaviour in the pipeline analysis has little influence on
resulting response. However, the mechanism of crumbling
soil from the fixed berms falling back into the trench creates
a bowl-shaped trench. The shape of this trench means that
the cyclic residual resistance is initially low as the pipe slides
down one side of the trench, and then gradually increases as
the pipe slides horizontally and then rises up the other side
of the trench before meeting the berm.
3.5.2 Lateral resistance uncertainties
Many of the tests carried out to date have evaluated the
lateral resistance of quite light pipes, representing wet-in-
sulated or gas pipelines; uncertainty remains over the long
term cyclic response of heavier pipelines, such as water-
filled lines or pipe-in-pipe systems.
The key to successful modelling of the cyclic behaviour is
to capture the reaction force from the static berms. Once
08/08/2007 23:12:58
 Proceedings of the 6th International Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics Conference:
Confronting New Challenges and Sharing Knowledge, 11–13 September 2007, London, UK
Figure 16: Example of axial velocity along a pipeline during
shutdown/restart cycle
Figure 17: Schematic of lateral force-displacement response
Figure 18: Breakout response based on embedment level
Figure 19: Typical cross profile at crown of lateral buckle on
an operated pipeline
OSIG final.indb 143
Figure 20:Typical berm geometry during centrifuge modelling
of cyclic pipe movement8
the static berms are formed on the first cycle, they quickly
become established and provide a significant resistance to
increasing cyclic amplitude of the pipe, although the pipe is
likely to encroach into the berm slightly during the first few
cycles, until the berm gains sufficient strength.
This behaviour is confirmed by the soil berms established
on operating pipelines where lateral buckles have occurred.
Figure 19 shows a typical cross profile at the crown of a
lateral buckle, where the as-installed and maximum excur-
sion positions are inferred from survey data. For compari-
son, Figure 20 shows the pair of soil berms established by
a laterally sweeping pipe section during a centrifuge model
test. This test was part of a programme of lateral pipe-soil
interaction tests conducted at The University of Western
Australia (UWA) as part of SAFEBUCK Phase II9. By ana-
lysing images captured during this test programme using
particle image velocimetry (PIV)10, the soil deformation
mechanisms during lateral sweeping could be identified.
Figure 21a shows the displacement field as a pipe travels
horizontally on soft clay. The growing berm ahead of the
pipe primarily deforms by shear along the base, with some
soil being pushed into the berm close to the pipe invert.
To illustrate the significance of the berm resistance, the
berm resistance recorded during these tests after 50 cycles
of fixed amplitude was typically five times higher than the
residual lateral resistance during the first cycle.
Models for pipe-soil interaction that are used to simulate
large-amplitude cyclic motion should therefore capture the
effect of soil berms, which tend to constrain the buckle and
can increase the loading at the apex of the buckle. The in-
Figure 21: Berm growth
ahead of a sweeping pipe;
(a) velocity field during
centrifuge test and (b) mod-
elling idealisation
143
08/08/2007 23:13:01
 Bruton, Carr and White. The Influence of Pipe-Soil Interaction on Lateral Buckling and Walking of Pipelines –
crease in lateral resistance at the soil berm is a function of:
• The cumulative lateral pipe displacement, defined by the
number and size of previous sweeps, and the vertical em-
bedment during these sweeps: these distances govern the
volume of soil pushed out from the trench and added to
the berms; the size of the berm then governs the resist-
ance required to push through it
• The proportion of berm resistance mobilised: as the pipe
moves into the berm, the resistance rises approximately
linearly until the full berm strength is mobilised
• The rate of displacement into the berm, hence wheth-
er the response tends towards undrained or drained
behaviour
• The remoulded strength of the clay within the berm, de-
fined by repeated cyclic loading and consolidation of the
berm.
The amplitude of the cyclic sweeps contributes to how
quickly the berm is established during the initial cycles.
However, during sweeps of constant amplitude, the berm
resistance approaches a limiting value, as after the first few
sweeps, any fresh soil added to the berm on a given sweep
falls back into the trenchc.
FEA models should include the berm resistance based on
the actual vertical load, V, exerted by the pipe caused by the
formation of soil berms at lateral buckles. This includes lat-
eral buckles that occur on the seabed (on-bottom) or those
that occur at sleepers or distributed buoyancy sections. In
every case, soil berms provide lateral restraint and strongly
influence the cyclic response of the pipe. Berm resistance is
generally incorporated into FEA by modifying the equiva-
lent lateral coefficient as the pipe approaches the berms, ac-
cording to a user routine. In recent projects, the magnitude
of the berm strength and the rate at which it is mobilised
as the pipe approaches the berm has been estimated from
model tests. Currently, a range of values of berm strength
is employed in design to address the sensitivity to berm
strength during cyclic loading.
Prediction of berm resistance is not well understood and
much work is ongoing in this area. To provide a more sys-
tematic basis for predicting berm resistance, a methodology
that links the erosion of material from the trench base to
the growth of the berm, and therefore the berm strength,
has been proposed11.
This approach operates by considering conservation of vol-
ume between the soil berms and the trench between the
berms, which is being ‘ploughed’ by the sweeping pipe.
The thickness of material ploughed by the pipe during
each sweep, tplough (Figure 21b) is calculated from the pipe
weight. From tplough, the growth of the ‘active’ berm ahead
of the sweeping pipe can be calculated. The volume of ma-
terial ploughed during each cycle is added to the fixed berm
at the end of each sweep, and the total berm volume is used
to calculate the berm resistance.
c The trench described here is one which is created by cyclic pipe dis-
placement and is not the result of a pipeline trenching operation.
144
OSIG final.indb 144
the SAFEBUCK JIP
This model for berm behaviour mimics the mechanisms
seen during experiments in a simple form. The model can
be used to assist in the interpretation of physical tests and
allow these to be generalised to arbitrary sequences of lateral
movement, providing values of berm resistance to be used
in FEA. A future development would be to incorporate this
model directly into the FEA, allowing berm resistance to
evolve automatically during the analysis.
3.6 Advances in pipe-soil modelling methods
The current pipe-soil response models are characterised by
a piecewise linear response defined by equivalent friction
coefficients (Figure 17). These provide a practical way to
capture the non-linear response demonstrated by pipe-soil
interaction testing. However, this approach can be cumber-
some, requiring the definition of a non-linear response for
each pipeline configuration to be inserted into a user-sub-
routine that can update the equivalent friction coefficients
for each section of the pipeline, as contact loads and dis-
placements change throughout the analysis. These routines
must be incorporated into the FEA in such a way that re-
versals of direction or non-constant pipe touchdown loads
are handled competently.
An alternative to the equivalent friction coefficient ap-
proach is to use yield envelopes in vertical and horizontal
load space that bound the allowable combinations of load
for a given pipe embedment. Yield envelopes are well es-
tablished as an approach to describe the bearing capacity
of shallow foundations under combined load. By invoking
plasticity theory and an appropriate flow rule, yield enve-
lopes can be used to create a model for the general load-dis-
placement response of a pipe or foundation12, 13, 14, 15. These
are known as ‘force-resultant’ plasticity models.
These models are similar to the work-hardening plasticity
models used to describe the behaviour of individual ele-
ments of soil – such as Cam clay – and are able to capture
the brittle behaviour of over-penetrated pipes, but with a
smooth response rather than the abrupt changes in stiffness
given by the piece-wise linear simplification illustrated in
Figure 17.
A force-resultant plasticity model for small displacement be-
haviour of a pipe on carbonate sand is described by Zhang
et al.13 To capture the behaviour needed for lateral buck-
ling design, this type of model must be extended to include
the large displacement effects described previously – for
example, using the berm modelling approach described in
Section 3.5.2, in which the active berm area is an additional
hardening parameter.
The SAFEBUCK JIP is supporting ongoing research into
force-resultant plasticity models for pipe-soil interaction.
The aim is to develop a force-resultant model for pipe-soil
interaction that captures the necessary effects for use in lat-
eral buckling design. This research is currently focused on
identifying the basic mechanisms involved – using model
tests and theoretical analysis – then distilling this behaviour
into appropriate extensions to existing force-resultant plas-
ticity models.
08/08/2007 23:13:02
 Proceedings of the 6th International Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics Conference:
Confronting New Challenges and Sharing Knowledge, 11–13 September 2007, London, UK
4. Soil Data and Model Testing
4.1 Soil properties required for design
The pipe-soil force-displacement responses used in the de-
sign of a flowline should cover the full range of anticipated
shear strength and submerged unit weight at the site. The
lower bound soil strength profile results in greater em-
bedment, which leads to high lateral breakout resistance,
whereas the upper bound strength profile results in shallow
embedment and a reduced breakout load.
For lateral buckling and pipe walking, it is important to
bound behaviour. Upper and lower bound values of soil
resistance are both important. It is therefore essential that a
detailed soil investigation is conducted, providing detailed
measurements of soil strength, particularly in the upper 1m
of soil. Uncertain soil conditions results in a large range
between upper and lower bound behaviour, which will in-
crease the design challenge and potential mitigation costs;
in some cases, it may preclude the ability to demonstrate a
robust design solution.
It is therefore important to define a range of soil parameters
that includes realistic upper and lower bound values with
depth. It is also important not to assume a single value or an
unrealistically narrow band of response, as this could lead
to an unsafe design.
Key soils data required for design includes:
• Shear strength profiles measured in situ to about 1.0m
depth, preferably using a T-bar penetrometer
• Sensitivity, preferably based on first-in/first-out and cy-
clic T-bar response
• Submerged soil unit weight
• Laboratory test data using disturbed soil samples and
specialist testing methods, particularly the assessments
of pipe-soil interface friction at appropriate low stress
levels.
Full-flow penetrometers, such as the T-bar, currently offer
the best method of assessing the strength of soft near-sur-
face sediments for pipeline design. A T-bar penetrometer
comprises a cylindrical bar, typically 40mm in diameter
and 250mm long, and may be viewed as a small scale seg-
ment of pipe. Measurements of T-bar penetration resistance
can be converted to undrained shear strength in a more
straightforward manner than CPT tip resistance, and the
higher projected area of the T-bar leads to reduced noise on
the force measurements16.
To assess axial resistance, it is useful to conduct laboratory
tests to assess friction angles and remoulded strengths at the
very low effective stress levels relevant to pipelines. Specialist
equipment has been designed to measure pipe-soil interface
resistance at these low stress levels, including the tilt table
device at the University of Texas at Austin17 and the Cam
shear device used at the University of Cambridge, discussed
further in the next section.
The scopes for specialist laboratory and in situ pipe-soil test-
ing are being developed and refined on a project-by-project
basis. A specialist pipe-soil testing rig – mounted on a sea-
OSIG final.indb 145
bed frame – to measure axial and lateral pipe-soil resistance
in situ is being developed by Fugro (SMARTPIPE). This
programme is ongoing and no test data is currently in the
public domain.
4.2 Laboratory model test programmes
Lateral buckling and pipeline walking behaviour is extreme-
ly sensitive to pipe-soil interaction, and there is much uncer-
tainty associated with models for pipe-soil interaction in soft
clay. In addition, the basic phenomena involved are not fully
understood, and detailed numerical modelling is not yet ca-
pable of fully representing the response. This has led to the
need for project-specific model test programmes. These are
often undertaken at full-scale (or half-scale), which requires
more time than project time scales normally allow.
The aim of the SAFEBUCK pipe-soil interaction test pro-
gramme was, therefore, to provide generic guidance for
future projects and improve current understanding. Data
from these tests have been augmented by project-specific
tests, donated by JIP participants, to create a database that
now spans a wide range of pipe diameters, weights and
soil conditions; this database is the source on which the
SAFEBUCK models published previously5 are based.
However, much uncertainty remains and more testing is
ongoing. Many recent projects have carried out small- and
large-scale tests in specialist laboratories. These tests have
concentrated on the low shear strength and low-permeabil-
ity soft clays that dominate the deepwater regions of the
world where on-bottom lateral buckling solutions are cur-
rently being employed.
Large-scale model tests typically use 3–5m3 of soil col-
lected from the field and re-consolidated in a large tank.
The model pipe is placed into the soil bed and swept axi-
ally and laterally to assess the response. A number of such
project-specific tests have been carried out at Cambridge
University (UK) and the Norwegian Geotechnical Institute
(NGI)18 over recent years. The practical limitations of such
tests include the time taken to reconsolidate the soil in the
tank and the maximum pipe diameter of typically 12in.
Nevertheless, such tests provide detailed measurements of
pipe-soil interaction in near full-scale conditions.
Large-scale lateral tests have been supplemented by
small-scale centrifuge tests, which were initiated by the
SAFEBUCK JIP at Cambridge University19 and have since
been carried out by a number of international research fa-
cilities. A suite of centrifuge tests for the JIP was recently
completed at UWA, including a set of tests that used im-
age analysis9 to better understand the failure mechanisms.
The advantage of conducting lateral pipe-soil model test-
ing in a centrifuge and the reason that this type of testing
was initiated by the JIP are that only a small quantity of
soil is required and the testing programme is much shorter.
Centrifuge model tests, using a suitably advanced actuation
system, can also replicate the necessary sequences of pipe
laying and lateral motion.
The most advanced centrifuge model testing facilities can
replicate the complete load and displacement patterns im-
145
08/08/2007 23:13:02
 Bruton, Carr and White. The Influence of Pipe-Soil Interaction on Lateral Buckling and Walking of Pipelines –
Figure 22: Pipe-soil model testing in the UWA geotechnical
beam centrifuge
posed in real conditions, including a simulation of lay ef-
fects, changes in pipe weight due to hydrotesting and op-
erating cycles, and any pre-determined sequence of lateral
motion (or loading). In the centrifuge, the accelerated rates
of consolidation allow long periods of pipeline operation to
be simulated within a single continuous centrifuge flight.
For example, a centrifuge test lasting 24hr at an accelera-
tion of 30g using a 20mm-diameter model pipe can simu-
late 3 years of operation of a 0.6m-diameter pipe. In-flight
T-bar testing allows the model seabed to be characterised
in the same way as the field case. Figure 22 shows a model
of a 0.4m diameter pipeline suspended above a soft clay
seabed prior to simulation of the lay process, followed by
lateral testing.
Large-scale axial model pipe tests have been supplemented
by small-scale axial friction tests using the Cam shear de-
vice at Cambridge University and the Tilt-table device17
at University of Texas. Both methods provide measure-
ments of pipe-soil interface resistance, as well as soil-soil
shear resistance, at the low effective stress levels appropriate
to pipelines (typically 2 to 10kPa). The Cam shear device
measures friction at a range of velocities, while the tilt-table
test method is ideally suited to repeatable measurements of
drained friction angle.
4.3 Operating data from existing pipelines
Observations from operational pipelines provide a signifi-
cant source of data that is contributing to the understand-
ing of pipe-soil interaction. Lateral buckles have occurred
on many large-diameter operating pipelines in shallow wa-
ter, and much has been learned from integrity monitoring
assessments of these systems. However, much of this experi-
ence is in shallow water on sandy seabeds. Operating data
is now coming available from field developments in deep
water on soft clay, but currently this data is sparse.
In addition, the level of data available from integrity moni-
toring varies significantly by operator and region. To extract
reliable pipe-soil interaction data from operational behav-
iour, it is important to have recorded all the parameters that
146
OSIG final.indb 146
the SAFEBUCK JIP
affect behaviour with sufficient accuracy20. For example, it
is not helpful to measure buckle shape accurately if the con-
current operating conditions at the buckle location are un-
known, since these conditions define the load against which
the buckle behaviour is being assessed.
There are three key areas of data collation from operating
pipelines, which are outlined in this section.
Embedment: Comparison of actual as-laid embedment with
predictions based on laboratory tests will help identify the
level of embedment that can be attributed to dynamic load-
ing at touchdown during installation. Comparison between
predictions and actual embedments has helped to calibrate
the dynamic embedment factor, as discussed earlier.
Lateral response: Comparison between observed lateral
buckle shape and the shape predicted by FEA allows the
analyst to estimate the resistance provided by the soil;
such estimates fit well with existing model predictions.
Observations of lateral buckle shape from one year to the
next have also provided valuable data on the influence of
soil berms, as discussed earlier.
Axial response: Comparison of measured and predicted
end expansions and pipeline walking predictions over time
will improve understanding of axial pipe-soil response.
Measurement of displacements at J-lay collars along a
pipeline has already provided data that supports higher
levels of axial resistance than conventionally assumed in
design – supporting the laboratory studies that have re-
vealed high values of drained interface friction angle (see
Section 3.4.2).
5. Conclusions
This paper has demonstrated the significant influence that
axial and lateral pipe-soil resistance has on several aspects
of the design of pipelines laid on the seabed. The areas of
influence include the effective force in the pipeline, lateral
buckle initiation, lateral buckle loading, end expansion,
pipeline walking and route curve stability.
The influence of pipe-soil resistance on these various issues
is often conflicting. For example, high lateral resistance is
beneficial for curve stability, but detrimental to the bending
loads developed in a buckle; high axial resistance is benefi-
cial for controlling feed-in to a buckle, but increases the
susceptibility to buckling in the first place. Consequently,
it is not possible adopt a ‘conservative’ pipe-soil resistance
parameter based on the extreme anticipated value. Instead,
it is necessary to bound the pipe-soil resistance and ensure
that the design is acceptable throughout the potential enve-
lope of resistance.
Since the pipe-soil response is the largest uncertainty faced
in design, there is a need for better analysis models sup-
ported by experimental data and underlain by a theoretical
basis. Significant work has already been performed by the
SAFEBUCK JIP and by forward thinking projects to im-
prove understanding considerably.
However, the observed behaviour is extremely complex.
08/08/2007 23:13:03
 Proceedings of the 6th International Offshore Site Investigation and Geotechnics Conference:
Confronting New Challenges and Sharing Knowledge, 11–13 September 2007, London, UK
Compared to conventional geotechnical problems, lateral
buckling design is unusual in that soil failure is required
in order for the design to be successful. Also, the operat-
ing behaviour involves large amplitude pipe movements,
leading to repeated remoulding and consolidation of the
seabed and gross changes in geometry due to the formation
of trenches and berms. All of this activity occurs at effective
stress levels that lie around 1 order of magnitude lower than
are conventionally considered in geotechnical engineering.
This complexity presents a significant challenge in design,
but significant project cost savings can result if an accept-
able solution can be reached.
The research described in this paper has identified the key
mechanisms that affect axial and lateral pipe-soil interaction
on soft clay soils. Each aspect of this interaction includes areas
of uncertainty identified in this paper. Current developments
aimed at reducing these uncertainties include (i) improved
penetration testing techniques for assessing near-surface soil
strength; (ii) new laboratory testing techniques for assessing
pipe-soil resistance at low stress levels; (iii) improved effec-
tive stress-type (‘beta’) methods for assessing axial pipe-soil
resistance; and (iv) improved models for assessing lateral re-
sistance, incorporating berm effects and building on existing
force-resultant plasticity models. SAFEBUCK Phase II has
focussed on the latter three aspects. Research into the first
aspect is described elsewhere16, 8.
It is anticipated that the current research will lead to an
improved understanding of the key parameters and mecha-
nisms involved in pipe-soil interaction, providing improved
analysis models and raising the capability of the industry to
assess lateral buckling and pipeline walking in design.
6. Abbreviations
CAPEX – Capital expenditure
FEA – Finite element analysis
JIP – Joint industry project
KP – Kilometre point (distance along a pipeline)
OOS – Out of straightness
PIV – Particle image velocimetry
SCR – Steel catenary riser
TDP – Touchdown point
UWA – University of Western Australia
VAS – Virtual anchor spacing
7. Nomenclature
su = soil undrained shear strength (kPa)
H = horizontal resistance, kN/m
V = vertical-unit pipe load, kN/m
W’ = submerged pipe weight, kN/m
µa = axial friction coefficient
α = total stress axial resistance coefficient, α = τ/su
δ = pipe-soil interface friction angle
φ = soil friction angle
τ = shear stress
OSIG final.indb 147
Acknowledgments
The JIP has been very well supported by the offshore in-
dustry. BP, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Petrobras and
Shell, as well as the US government through the Minerals
Management Service (MMS), participated in Phase I,
with installation contractors and suppliers represented by
Allseas, JFE-Metal One, Technip, and Tenaris. Additional
participants including Acergy, Chevron, Statoil and Saipem
have joined Phase II, which will run through 2007.
Many engineers and specialists in the pipeline and geotech-
nical community have contributed to the understanding
and testing of pipe-soil interaction response outlined in
this paper, often through involvement in the SAFEBUCK
JIP. In particular, Professor Malcolm Bolton has led the
SAFEBUCK pipe-soil interaction work conducted at
Cambridge University.
The centrifuge model test shown in Figure 20 was conduct-
ed by Helen Dingle.
References
1. Bruton D, Carr M, Crawford M and Poiate E. (2005). The
Safe Design of Hot On-Bottom Pipelines with Lateral Buckling
using the Design Guideline Developed by the SAFEBUCK
Joint Industry Project. Paper presented at the Deep Offshore
Technology Conference, Vitoria, Brazil, November.
2. Anderson A, Carr M and Bruton D. (2007). The influence of
Pipeline Insulation on Installation Temperature, Effective Force
and Pipeline Buckling. OMAE2007-29317. Proc. of 26th Int.
Conf. on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering.
3. Harrison GE, Brunner MS and Bruton DAS. (2003). King flow-
lines – thermal expansion design and implementation. OTC
15310. Proc. Offshore Technology Conf., Houston, USA.
4. Carr M, Sinclair F and Bruton D. (2006). Pipeline Walking
– Understanding the Field Layout Challenges, and Analytical
Solutions developed for the SAFEBUCK JIP. OTC 17945
Offshore Technology Conf., Houston, USA.
5. Bruton D, White D, Cheuk C, Bolton M and Carr M. (2006).
Pipe/Soil Interaction Behaviour During Lateral Buckling. SPE
106847, September.
6. Murff JD, Wagner DA and Randolph MF. (1989). Pipe penetra-
tion in cohesive soil. Géotechnique 39(2):213–229.
7. Lund KM. (2000). Effect of Increase in Pipeline Penetration from
Installation. Proc. of the Conference on Offshore, Marine and
Arctic Engineering. New Orleans, USA, February.
8. White DJ and Randolph MF. (2007). Seabed characterisation
and models for pipeline-soil interaction Proc. 17th Int. Offshore
and Polar Engng. Conference, Lisbon, Portugal.
9. White DJ, Dingle HRC and Gaudin C. (2007). SAFEBUCK JIP
Phase II: Centrifuge modelling of pipe-soil interaction: factual
report. Report for Boreas Consultants (SAFEBUCK JIP), ref.
UWA report GEO 07396, 57p. (Confidential).
10. White DJ, Take WA and Bolton MD. (2003). Soil deformation
measurement using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and photo-
grammetry. Géotechnique 53(7):619–63.
11. White DJ and Cheuk CY. (2007). Modelling the soil resistance
on seabed pipelines during large cycles of lateral movement.
Marine Structures, in press.
12. Schotman GJM and Stork FG. (1987). Pipe-soil interaction: a
model for laterally loaded pipelines in clay. OTC 5588, Proc.
Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, USA.
147
08/08/2007 23:13:03
 Bruton, Carr and White. The Influence of Pipe-Soil Interaction on Lateral Buckling and Walking of Pipelines –
13. Zhang J, Stewart DP, Randolph MF. (2002). Modeling of shal-
lowly embedded offshore pipelines in calcareous sand. Proc. J. of
Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engng. 128(5):363–371.
14. Martin CM and Houlsby GT. (2001). Combined loading of
spudcan foundations on clay: numerical modelling. Géotechnique
51(8):687–699.
15. Nova R and Montrasio L. (1991). Settlements of shallow founda-
tions on sand. Géotechnique 41(2):243–256.
16. Randolph MF. (2004). Characterisation of soft sediments for off-
shore applications. Proc. 2nd Int. Conf. on Site Characterisation,
Porto, 1, 209–231.
17. Najjar SN, Gilbert RB, Liedtke EA and McCarron W. (2003).
Tilt Table Test for Interface Shear Resistance Between Flowlines
and Soils. Proc. Conf. on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic
Engineering.
148
OSIG final.indb 148
the SAFEBUCK JIP
18. Langford TE, Dyvik R and Cleave R. (2007). Offshore pipeline
and riser geotechnical model testing: practice and interpretation
OMAE2007-29458.
19. Cheuk CY and Bolton MD. (2006). A technique for modelling
the lateral stability of on-bottom pipelines in a small drum cen-
trifuge. Proc. Int. Conf. on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics,
Hong Kong.
20. Baker JHA, Bruton DAS, Matheson IC. (2006). Monitoring
and effective integrity management of laterally buckled flowlines
in deep water. OTC 17932, Proc. Offshore Technology Conf.,
Houston, USA.
08/08/2007 23:13:03