GROUND DEFORMATION EFFECTS

ON SUBSURFACE PIPELINES AND

INFRASTRUCTURE

Tom O’Rourke
Thomas R. Briggs
Professor
of Engineering
Cornell University

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Harry Stewart Brad Wham Dimitra Bouziou Tim Bond

Chalermpat
Joe Chipalowsky Christina Argyrou Jai Jung
Pariya-Ekkasut

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 TOPICS
• Underground Assets • (Tunneling Effects on Pipelines)
• Soil/Pipe Interface • Next Generation Pipelines
• Soil/Pipeline Interaction • Pipeline System Performance
• 2D and 3D Behavior • Impact on Communities

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 TOPIC
• Underground Assets

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 U.S. PIPELINE INVENTORY
• 489,000 km Gas & Liquid Fuel Transmission
Lines
• 2,035,000 km Gas Distribution Lines
• 67 Million Gas Service Lines
• 1,900,000 km Water Distribution Lines
• $2.4 Trillion Water Pipeline Replace Value
• 1 km Pipeline Every 9 Minutes in US
• 1 km Pipeline Every 1-2 Minutes Worldwide

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
US PIPELINE INVENTORY
(Water)
DEP (NYC)

99% of Gas
Distribution
Pipelines
≤ 600 mm
90-95% (PHMSA,
≤ 600 mm 2015)

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 UNDERGROUND
INFRASTRUCTURE

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
KOREAN PIPELINE NEWS CAST

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
EXTREME SOIL-PIPELINE INTERACTION
•Earthquakes
•Hurricanes and Floods
•Landslides: Aerial and Submarine
•Tunneling and Deep Excavations
•Subsidence

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
EXTREME SOIL-PIPELINE INTERACTION
Soil Material & Geometric Pipeline Material &
Nonlinearities Geometric Nonlinearities

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 TOPIC

• Soil/Pipe Interface

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
TACTILE PRESSURE
SENSORS

50 X 40 cm plan dimensions
~ 2000 sensels

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
PLANE STRAIN EXPERIMENTS

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 Expanded 
N ds = Rd
 View

FH  p( θ)  R
O 
θ O

a) Shear Stress b) Normal Stress θ c) Expanded
Orientation Distribution θ View
p(θ)cosθ
p(θ)tanδsinθ
PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 Expanded p(θ)
R=D/2
View
τ(θ)
θ
pH θ dS=Rd
O
pmax O
dθ

τ Note: Not in scale

a) Shear Stress Orientation b) Normal Stress Distribution c) Expanded View

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 = 10 mm  = 30 mm  = 120 mm

0 100 200 0 100 200 0 100 200

Normal Stress, kPa Normal Stress, kPa Normal Stress, kPa

a) Side Sensor

 = 10 mm  = 30 mm  = 120 mm

0 100 200 0 100 200 0 100 200

Normal Stress, kPa Normal Stress, kPa Normal Stress, kPa

b) Centerline Sensor

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
SOIL PRESSURE DISTRIBTION

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
fT = pNtanδ and fA = pHtanδ
Plot fT/fA vs tanδ p(θ)
θ
θ
θ
p(θ)cosθ
p(θ)tanδsinθ
PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 fT/fA VS tanδ

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
fT 1.531
=
𝑓𝐴 1.273 + 0.672 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝛿

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
COUPLED TRANSVERSE & LONGITUDINAL SOIL FORCES
Gap Element:
Links Forces
Normal with
Forces Parallel
to Pipe By
Coulomb
Friction Law

fT  pN tan 

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 LESSONS: SOIL-PIPE INTERFACE
• Relationship Between Soil Force Normal to Pipe
Surface vs Force Normal to Pipe Longitudinal
Axis Is Key for Modeling Coupled Soil-Pipe
Interaction
• Evaluation of Friction Along Pipe from Soil
Force Normal to Longitudinal Axis.

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 TOPIC
• Soil/Pipeline Interaction

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 SOIL-PIPELINE INTERACTION
• Nonlinear Interaction
Relationships
Calibrated by Full-
Scale Experiments
• Can Replicate
Complex Interactions
in Pipe & Soil
• 3-D Continuum
P
Modeling Evolving; y
Still Challenges

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 SOIL-PIPELINE INTERACTION MODELS

Continuum (Robert et al 2016)

Shell & Discrete Soil Reactions
(Xie et al 2013)

Continuum (Xie et al 2013) Continuum (Vazouras et al, 2012)

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
PLANE STRAIN & DIRECT SHEAR STRENGTH
d/2 ’ Pole for
(dyy, dyx/2) planes
(’ff, ’ff) (’yy, ’yx)

’ds
Direct Shear
 ψ d O ’ps C
 ψ ’

Pole for (0, dxy/2) (’xx, ’xy)

directions

Mohr’s circle for incremental strain Plane Strain

Mohr’s circle for stress
(After Lings and Dietz, 2004)

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
GLACIAL FLUVIAL SAND
d ds-p ps-p ψp
Density
(kN/m3) (degrees) (degrees) (degrees)

Medium 15.5 ~ 16.5 35 ~ 37 41 ~ 44 3~6

Dense 16.5 ~ 17.5 38 ~ 40 45 ~ 47 7 ~ 10
Very Dense 17.5 ~ 18.0 41 ~ 43 48 ~ 49 11 ~ 17

300 mm

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 LARGE-SCALE 2-D TESTS
North 2.4 m

m
4
2.
1.8 m

Direction of Buried
pipe movement pipe

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 Analytical Model:
 MC Yield Surface
 Strain Compatible Modulus
 Strain Softening from Peak
Shear

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 Vert Dist,mm
Horizontal Distance, mm

Void

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
SIMULATION VS FULL-SCALE TEST RESULTS

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
MAXIMUM DIMENSIONLESS SOIL REACTION FORCE
Lateral Force Uplift Force

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
SOIL-PIPE INTERACTION FOR DIFFERENT
MOVEMENT DIRECTIONS

Oblique

Vertical
Downward

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
MAX VERTICAL BEARING FORCE
Bearing Force
is ½ to 1/3
Conventional
Bearing Capacity

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
OBLIQUE SOIL-PIPE INTERACTION

45° Downward 45° Upward

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
MULTI-DIRECTIONAL SOIL-PIPE INTERACTION

N qOU  iU N qVU
N qOD  i D N qVD
Fqim  0.25 up  N qH 
iU  1     1
 90  0.75  N 
 up  qVU 

 0.25 down  N qH 
i D  1     1
Fqim  Nqim H c DL  90  0.75 down

 N qVD



PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
MULTI-DIRECTIONAL SOIL-PIPE INTERACTION

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
SOIL-PIPE FORCE VS DISPLACEMENT RELATIONSHIPS

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
SUCTION IN PARTIALLY SATURATED SOILS
Precipitation
Transpiration
Infiltration Evaporation
Meniscus formed
between particles

Unsaturated Flow Pipeline

Water table
Pores filled with
water

(After Robert et al, 2016)

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
SUCTION EFFECTS IN PARTIALLY SATURATED SOILS

(After Robert et al, 2016)

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
DESIGN PROCEDURE

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
EXPERIMENTAL VALIDATION

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
HDPE SIMULATION VS MEASURED RESPONSE

Strike Slip
Fault
Displacement:
250-mm Pipe

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 STRIKE SLIP: AXIAL/BENDING STRAINS

250-mm Pipe 400-mm Pipe

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
LESSONS: SOIL-PIPELINE INTERACTION
• Integrated Methodology for Soil-Pipe
Interaction for All Pipe Movement Directions
and Depths: Hc/D ≥ 2
• Simulations Show Vertical Downward Soil/Pipe
Reaction Force ~ ½ to 1/3 Conventional
Bearing Capacity Force
• Suction-Enhanced Soil-Pipe Force

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 TOPIC
• 2D AND 3D BEHAVIOR

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 3D SOIL-PIPELINE INTERACTION
• Steel, HDPE and Cast
Iron
• Frequently Used D/t s
• D/L = 10
D
D = 900 mm

L
D/t = 96

Apply Max Lateral Soil-Pipe Pressure to Simply Supported 3D Pipe (Shell) as

Proxy to Detect Transverse Distortion
PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
3D SOIL-PIPELINE INTERACTION
Steel
& HDPE
600mm

600mm
HDPE Cast
400mm Iron

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 3D SOIL-PIPELINE INTERACTION
SFPUC Alameda Siphon No. 4 • 1.7-m-diameter
Calaveras Fault Crossing Pipeline
• X-36 Steel
• 25 mm Wall
Thickness to
Resist Ovaling
• Polyethylene
Wrapped Around
Fusion Bonded
Nisar et al. (2015) Epoxy

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 TOPIC
• Next Generation Hazard
Resilient Pipelines

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
NEXT GENERATION HAZARD-RESILIENT PIPELINES
Wall Street
Journal Photo

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
NEXT GENERATION HAZARD-RESILIENT PIPELINES

6 in.

8.6º

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
LARGE-SCALE TESTING: NEXT GENERATION INFASTRUCTURE

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
ORIENTED POLYVINYL CHLORIDE (PVCO) JOINTS

Spigot Compressed into Bell

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE 57
ORIENTED POLYVINYL CHLORIDE (PVCO) JOINTS

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
CONTROLLED
BUCKLING

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
CONTROLLED BUCKLING

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
LESSONS: NEXT GENERATION (HAZARD-
RESILIENT) PIPELINES
• Paradigm Shift in Pipeline Technology
• Market-Driven Research Funded by
Industry
• Can’t Have Resilience Unless You Have a
Market
• Next Generation Hazard-Resilient Pipeline
Simulation Models
PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 ADVANCED SENSORS
• Collaboration Among University of Cambridge,
Cornell, and UC Berkeley
• Demonstrate Proof of Concept
• Distributed Fiber Optics
• Joint Movement
• Pipeline Bending Strains & Displacement
• Time Domain Reflectometry
• Leakage
• Underground Wireless
• Data Transmission Without Wires

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
LESSONS: NEXT GENERATION (HAZARD-
RESILIENT) PIPELINES
• Paradigm Shift in Pipeline Technology
• Market-Driven Research Funded by
Industry
• Can’t Have Resilience Unless You Have a
Intelligence
• Next Generation Hazard-Resilient Pipeline
Simulation Models
PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 TOPIC
• Pipeline System Performance

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 CANTERBURY EARTHQUAKE SEQUENCE
• ~ 185 Deaths
• CBD Destroyed
– ~ 1800 CBD Bldgs.
Demolished
– ~ 55,000 Residences Christchurch

Damaged
• > $30(US) B Direct
Losses ≈ 20 % GDP Christchurch

• Massive Liquefaction&
Infrastructure Damage

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
CANTERBURY EARTHQUAKE SEQUENCE

MW = 5.7
MW = 7.1 14 Feb 16
MW = 5.9
4 Sept 10 23 Dec 11

MW = 6.0
13 June 11
MW = 6.2
22 Feb 11

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 CHRISTCHURCH LIQUEFACTION

52 km2
96 km2
91 km2

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
CHRISTCHURCH
LIQUEFACTION IN
SAN FRANCISCO
Liquefied
Area

San Francisco borderline

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 LIGHT DETECTION & RANGING (LiDAR)
• High Resolution
LiDAR
Measurements
• Settlement on 5-m
• Lateral
Movement
on 4 & 56-m

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 GROUND DEFORMATION METRICS
• From Boscardin & Cording (1989) for Building Damage:

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 EARTHQUAKE PIPELINE DAMAGE
Asbestos
Cement (AC)

Polyvinyl
Chloride
(PVC)

Cast Iron (CI) Concrete (CONC)

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 PIPELINE
0 0.5 1 2 3 INFRASTRUCTURE
4 72
 SCREENING CRITERIA
• Assume Poisson Distribution for Repairs
  p  ( RR) x  (1   p
Poisson distribution: μ = (RR)x, and σ = [(RR)x]½
Sampled repairs follow normal distr. (central limit theorem)
1
        p
c
1
x   c   RR
2 2

• Repair Locations Checked by GIS

• Discount Landslides/Rockfall Areas

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 MAXIMUM PRINCIPAL LATERAL STRAIN
• Create Bilinear v4
y, v
v3
Quadrilateral
u4 u3
4 3

Finite Element x, u

from Lateral u1 1 2 u2

Displacements v1 v2

at Grid Corners
to Determine
Principal Strain

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
REPAIR RATE VS ANGULAR DISTORTION AND LATERAL STRAIN

Angular Lateral
r2 = 0.86
Distortion Strain
on 5-m From
Spacing 4 m x 4m
Cells
r2 = 0.79

r2 = 0.88

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 REPAIR RATE FOR COMBINED ANGULAR DISTORTION
Asbestos Cement (AC) Pipelines
AND LATERAL STRAIN

Cast Iron (CI) Pipelines

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 CUMULATIVE DISTRIBUTION OF
TENSILE LATERAL GROUND STRAINS
6 in.
Ground Strain
Accommodation

Exceedance
Levels 8.6º

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
THERMALLY WELDED PE VS CONVENTIONAL JOINTED
PIPELINE SYSTEMS
Water Distribution System

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 LESSONS FROM CHRISTCHURCH
• Extraordinary dataset: multiple EQs, dense ground
motion array, massive liquefaction, high density
LiDAR, geocoded repairs for thousands of km of
different pipelines
• First time comprehensive assessment of
underground lifeline response to liquefaction-
induced differential vertical movement and lateral
strain
• Unified methodology for building & lifeline damage
vs differential vertical & lateral ground movements

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 TOPIC
• Impact on Communities

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 120 km2
San
Francisco

5 km

N
200 km

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
EARTHQUAKE SAFETY AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE BOND

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
SAN FRANCISCO AUXILLIARY WATER SUPPLY
PERFORMANCE CRITERIA
• 7.8 Mw
Deterministic EQ
• Water Demands in
Fire Response
Areas
• Monte Carlo AWSS
Network
Simulations

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 SUMMARY
• Coupled Soil-Pipe Forces for Soil-Pipeline Analysis
• Link Between Lateral Soil-Pipe Force and Pipe
Surface Frictional Resistance
• Methodology for Soil-Pipe Interaction in Granular Soil
for Any Pipe Movement Direction and Depth
• Vertical Downward Pipe Force Significantly Less Than
Conventional Bearing Capacity
• Soil Suction Effects

PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE
 SUMMARY
• Guidance on Beam vs Shell Analysis for Soil-Pipe
Interaction. Transverse Distortion Important for
Diameters > 600 mm (Steel and Cast Iron)
• Next Generation Hazard Resilient Pipelines
• Canterbury EQ Sequence As Large-Scale Lab for
Characterizing Liquefaction Ground Deformation
• Unified Methodology for Pipeline and Building
Response to Soil Settlement and Lat’l. Displacement
• Impact on Communities
PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE