Analysis of the effects of using various backfill materials in the buried pipelines construction

Abstract

In the article the effects of backfilling an underground, flexible pipeline, using natural materials (ground backfill) and modified materials, so called Lightweight Backfilling Materials (LBMs) were analyzed. These materials, thanks their lower density, have a positive effect on reducing the loads on the underground pipeline and, consequently, reducing deformations and stresses in its wall. LBMs include lightweight expanded clay aggregates, recycled tire chips used directly in the trench or mixed with the soil, foam concrete, foam glass (granules or plates), and expanded polystyrene, embedded in the ground in the form of blocks. The assessment of the effects of modifying the backfill of the underground pipeline was carried out by means of multi-variant numerical analysis in which models of the pipe-soil system in a plane strain state (2D model) were tested. In these models PEHD pipes were represented, with differential of their diameter (DN315, DN600) and stiffness (SDR), as well as trenches of various shapes (trench with vertical walls and with sloping walls). In the numerical calculations, two variants of trench filling were analyzed: full filling with soil and filling with selected LBMs (expanded clay aggregates, expanded polystyrene, tire chips mixed with soil) in layers separated in the backfill. The results of numerical calculations for particular variants of the models were analyzed in terms of the distribution of vertical displacements and stresses in the soil and pipe deformation. The received pipe deflections and circumferential stresses in their wall were related to the permissible values for PEHD pipes.