Analysis and Measurement of Soil Behavior Around Buried Concrete Pipe
SourceA piece-wise linear finite-element model of a buried concrete pipe and the surrounding soil is used to analyze the behavior of a soil-pipe system for both a trench and an embankment installation. Soil moduli for the various soils comprising each installation were determined from uniaxial strain tests, and they are considered to be functions of the major principal stress and the initial dry density. Values of Poisson's ratio were determined from triaxial tests with lateral strain measurements. Based on an extensive set of data from uniaxial strain tests on compacted and undisturbed soils, formulations are proposed to predict the constrained modulus from a knowledge of various soil index properties. Predicted soil stresses and deformations, interface stresses, and pipe deformations were compared to actual measured values from two field installations, and the results substantiate the adequacy of the approach.