THE EFFECT OF FAULT PLANE ANGLE ON THE STRUCTURAL RESPONSE OF BURIED STEEL PIPELINE SUBJECTED TO FAULT MOVEMENT

Analysis and design of buried pipelines are complicated problems. The reason lies in the fact that it incorporates interaction between soil and pipeline as well as nonlinear behaviour of surrounding soil. In the present study, the effect of soil elastic and plastic characteristics on mechanical behaviour of pipeline is investigated numerically. Strike-slip fault displacement is imposed in various angles to longitudinal pipeline axis. Soil is considered as an elastic-perfectly plastic material conforming Mohr-Coulomb criterion. The results obtained numerically were compared to well-known analytical methods. Although, analytical methods and numerical softwares prepares loads of possibilities to take into consideration pipe and soil interaction more realistically, the present study shows that a comprehensive experimental study should be done in each of the cases to calibrate and determine realistic values for soil and pipe interaction needed for various methods.