Title: Seismic response of large diameter buried concrete pipelines subjected to high frequency earthquake excitations

Authors: Roghayeh Abbasiverki; Anders Ansell

Addresses: Division of Concrete Structures, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden ' Division of Concrete Structures, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden

Abstract: Buried pipelines are tubular structures that cross large areas with different geological conditions. During an earthquake, imposed loads from soil deformations on pipelines may cause drastic damages. In this study two dimensional finite element models of pipelines and surrounding soils are used for simulation of seismic waves that propagate from the bedrock through the soil. The models describe both longitudinal and transverse cross-sections of pipelines and the soil-pipe interaction is described as a nonlinear behaviour. The effects of uniform ground with different burial depth and soil layer thickness, soil stiffness and non-uniform ground on the seismic response of reinforced concrete pipelines is studied. Two earthquakes, with high and low frequency contents, are employed for the dynamic analysis. The results show a significant effect on the response due to non-uniform ground caused by inclined bedrock, especially for high frequency earthquake excitations.

Keywords: buried pipelines; high frequency; finite element; seismic analysis; non-uniform ground; soil stiffness.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTRUCTE.2020.109854

International Journal of Structural Engineering, 2020 Vol.10 No.4, pp.307 - 329

Received: 29 Nov 2019
Accepted: 08 Feb 2020
Published online: 28 Sep 2020 *

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