| An overview of the current issues of HDPE pipe-soil systems is followed by a comprehensive literature review addressing current specifications, design methods, and relevant research projects. The following experimental tasks are described: (i) environmental stress cracking resistance (modified AASHTO M294), (ii) creep (10,000 hour parallel plate loading at super ambient temperatures), (iii) performance of buried pipes, subjected to live loading in a soil chamber, and (iv) field monitoring. The findings include (i) satisfactory short-term environmental stress cracking resistance, (ii) temperature-dependency of the flexural modulus, (iii) the evidence of transition between slow crack growth and rapid crack propagation due to imperfect installation, and (iv) high load carrying capacity for the properly installed pipe in uniform backfill, showing an over-deflection failure mode with top flattening.; The analytical investigations are as follows: (i) Bidirectional shift-constructed master curve, based on accelerated creep test values for long-term modulus prediction that showed good agreement with the Arrhenius equation-based analysis, (ii) Development of a seven-degree Voigt-Kelvin viscoelastic model based on the bidirectional shift-constructed master curve for analytical prediction of the long-term modulus, (iii) Comparison of two-dimensional and three-dimensional harmonic FEM analyses with the measured response of pipe-soil interaction, that demonstrated the analytical predictability of the pattern of deformation and stress distribution, and (iv) Determination of axial stress distribution along the pipe in non-uniform backfill condition, evaluated by approximate analysis based on finite differencing the deflection profile obtained from the assembly of individual finite segments/sections. This overcomes the limitation of the harmonic FEM analysis for pipe-soil interaction involving non-uniform soil conditions longitudinally and/or varying soil thickness circumferentially. The findings include (i) importance of axial stress contribution at failure, (ii) top flattening failure mode due to over-deflection preceding buckling or yielding, and (iii) critical adverse effect of the non-uniform backfill condition that can lead to joint opening, localized buckling, liner tearing/debonding, or cracking. The work has "spin off" applications to the coastal and offshore environments for sewage outfalls, marine pipelines etc. |
