Influence of erosion voids and traffic loads on buried large-diameter reinforced concrete pipes

Geotechnical centrifuge tests were conducted to examine the influence of invert voids and surface traffic loads on 1400 mm diameter reinforced concrete pipes buried with a shallow soil cover depth of 700 mm.Void formation beneath the pipe was simulated during centrifuge testing.The test results revealed that before void formation,the surface load directly above the middle of the pipe caused a significant increase in not only the circumferential bending moments but also the longitudinal bending moments,the latter of which was considerable and could not be ignored.Void formation beneath the middle of the pipe led to a reduction in both the circumferential bending moments and longitudinal bending moments at all measuring positions,i.e.,crown,springline,and invert.The most significant reduction occurred at the invert,and there was even a reversal in the sign of the invert longitudinal bending moment.A comparison was made between centrifuge tests with erosion voids and surface loads at different horizontal positions,which had a marked influence even when the positions differed by half a pipe length.Joint rotation played an important role in relieving large bending moments of pipe barrels in a jointed pipeline when the void and surface load were located at the joint.

Experimental study of the separated joint of an underground pipeline rehabilitated by cured-in-place pipe

Reinforced concrete pipes(RCPs)were commonly used in older underground pipelines in Taiwan,China.However,their joints are prone to damage,including fracture and separation,from problems such as overloading,poor backfilling,and liquefaction.For the rehabilitation of such aged pipelines,trenchless methods are preferred to minimize the impact on transportation.The cured-in-place-pipe(CIPP)rehabilitation could be one of the most popular trenchless methods suitable for the cases with angular alignment and changing cross-section.However,according to the existing standards,no details are available on the performance of the rehabilitated parts of the damaged pipeline,including the effect of separated joint.This study designed and conducted laboratory testing on the composite pipe joint(the CIPP rehabilitated RCPs with a separated joint)with different scenarios,including radial and longitudinal loading tests.The radial test results indicated that,for a small separation distance,CIPP rehabilitation can restore the original function of a pipeline and improve its hoop strength.The longitudinal test revealed that the damage due to bending was controlled by the tensile strength of the liner material.The ultimate flexural strength decreased as the separation distance increased.However,pipelines may be subjected to additional loads due to flotation or subsidence,for which the longitudinal loading capacity is often the limiting parameter.For such conditions,it is necessary to confirm,by more research,whether the wall thickness is sufficient.