Design of a New Full-Scale Vertical Ground Deformation Facility for Testing Buried Pipelines

Current full-scale experimental practices for pipes subjected to ground movements are limited to simple, abrupt ground movement profiles, such as normal faults; however, more complicated ground movements from earthworks and ground subsidence occur in the field. A new facility is being developed at Queen’s University to simulate these more complex ground movements. The facility is the next generation of the laboratory’s normal fault simulator (the “Split Box”) and consists of a full-scale soil chamber with a stationary floor and three independent moving floor sections. Hydraulic actuators will be installed at both ends of the facility to permit investigations of relative axial ground movement and upheaval buckling. These new features will facilitate improved understanding of soil–pipe interaction problems. The conceptual design of the facility is discussed and ABAQUS soil modelling is used to verify the feasibility of creating a versatile set of vertical ground movement profiles at depths practical within a laboratory setting. The novel techniques that will be implemented in the new facility form an important next step in modeling and understanding the response of buried pipelines subjected to differential ground movement and are expected to aid in the improvement of pipeline design and assessment.