Effects of Perforation Characteristics on Pipe Ring Stiffness for Agricultural Subsurface Pipe Drainage

In this study, parallel-plate loading tests for nonperforated and perforated single-wall corrugated plastic pipes were conducted, finite element method (FEM) models were established for parallel-plate loading tests using ANSYS Workbench software, and the models were verified according to the test results. Based on the FEM, we analyzed the influence of perforation characteristics, including the perforation location and size, number of rows of perforations, and perforation arrangement type, on the capacity of pipes to resist circumferential deflection. The results indicated that perforations should be avoided at the crown, invert, and springlines of the pipe. It is recommended that the perforation width not exceed 1/2 of the corrugation valley width. The number of rows of perforations should be evenly distributed around the whole circumference in fewer than four rows, and the perforation arrangement type should be arranged in a dislocation pattern.