Effects of Soil Support on the Stability of Buried Corrugated Metal Pipe

Stability of flexible pipe relies on support from the surrounding soil. For corrugated profiles, local and distortional buckling of corrugations can limit the capacity of the pipe, though for typical profiles global buckling will dominate. This paper continues the work presented by the authors to investigate the effects of nonlinear soil support on the stability of buried corrugated metal pipes. The study presents parametric finite elements models of the buried pipe. Sliding and separation of the soil from the pipe surface, and nonuniform soil compaction are included in the analysis, and their effect on the stability of the pipe are determined. The study covers a range of typical diameters, profiles, for typical soil stiffnesses. 

Keywords: Corrugated metal pipe (CMP), Buried pipe, Structural stability, Finite element analysis, Buckling.

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