Title
Experimental investigation of soil-pipeline interaction

WP Leader
Centro Sviluppo Materiali

Objectives
In this WP4 a series of experimental tests will be performed on various geometries of pipelines. The pipeline cross-sectional characteristics (e.g. diameter-to-thickness ratio) will be representative mainly for distribution pipelines, and within the range of smaller diameters employed for transmission pipelines in actual pipeline practice.

The main objective of this WP4 is to conduct key experimental work to validate the models developed in the WP2, and acquire confidence in the numerical tools, so that the extensive parametric study of WP5 is conducted. The experiments are aimed at examining ground-pipeline interaction, and refer to permanent-ground deformations. The purpose of those experiments is the measurement of strains and deformations (e.g. ovalization) at different levels of imposed action.

Specifically, the following tests are envisaged:

• Small-scale tests, simulating soil-pipeline interaction under differential settlement, as well as normal or reverse fault movement.
• Large-scale tests, simulating soil-pipeline interaction under horizontal (strike-slip) fault movement.

Large-scale tests on pipeline segments, simulating the ground-induced action on the pipeline with a shearing-type imposed deformation.