Three-Dimensional Finite Element Simulation of the Buried Pipe Problem in Geogrid Reinforced Soil

Abstract

Buried pipeline systems are commonly used to transport water, sewage, natural oil/gas and other materials. The beneficial of using geogrid reinforcement is to increase the bearing capacity of the soil and decrease the load transfer to the underground structures.

This paper deals with simulation of the buried pipe problem numerically by finite elements method using the newest version of PLAXIS-3D software. Rajkumar and Ilamaruthi's study, 2008 has been selected to be reanalyzed as 3D problem because it is containing all the properties needed by the program such as the modulus of elasticity, Poisson's ratio, angle of internal friction. It was found that the results of vertical crown deflection for the model without geogrid obtained from PLAXIS-3D are higher than those obtained by two-dimensional plane strain by about 21.4% while this percent becomes 12.1 for the model with geogrid, but in general, both have the same trend. The two dimensional finite elements analysis predictions of pipe-soil system behavior indicate an almost linear displacement of pipe deflection with applied pressure while 3-D analysis exhibited non-linear behavior especially at higher loads.