Strain Analysis and Field Testing of Buried Pipelines under Ground Deformation

Buried steel pipelines are the most efficient and common method of transporting oil and gas.

These pipelines may be buried in areas prone to landslides, slope instabilities, fault fracture, earthquake-induced ground movements, urban excavation, and excessive ground settlement, which may seriously jeopardize the structural integrity of buried pipelines through inducing large deformation in the pipe. While pipeline failures are uncommon, their consequences are severe, undermining the pipeline's overall operation and resulting in significant economic losses, environmental issues, and even human casualties.

Efforts to develop effective remediation solutions for protecting the structural integrity of buried pipelines against the consequences of ground movement have resulted in several mitigation techniques. However, most of them are inefficient and costly in practice. A novel remediation technique has been proposed by the University of Alberta researchers. This technique includes the use of Geobuffer, laterally located, near the pipeline.

Previously, the sufficiency of the method has been experimentally evaluated in the laboratory environment. In this study, however, the performance of the proposed remediation technique will be evaluated in a more realistic field environment.
Full-scale field condition tests will be performed to replicate ground deformation in real-world contortions. Procedures and test setup of each test are thoroughly designed and checked with industry partners of the project. Furthermore, a numerical model of each test is developed to simulate the behavior of the pipe-Geobuffer system and will be verified with the test results later on.

The outcome of field tests will allow the University of Alberta researchers to verify structural integrity of steel buried pipelines enhanced using the proposed remediation technique through full-scale field testing and develop modelling and design guidelines for pipeline engineers.