Pipe-soil shear interaction stiffness in horizontal directional drilling and pipe bursting

Abstract

During horizontal directional drilling and pipe bursting installations, the shear forces between the pipe and the surrounding soil play a major role in the tensile loads and stresses experienced by the pipe. The magnitudes and variations in the shear forces are controlled by the pipe-soil interaction characteristics. This paper discusses the shear interaction between the pipe and the soil during those trenchless installations. A pipe-soil interaction mechanism is described that quantifies the relationship between the shear force and shear displacement, as well as the shear force at which sliding takes place. A simple analytical approach, as well as a finite element procedure, is employed to provide guidelines on practical values of the pipe-soil interaction stiffness and to investigate the effect of some soil and geometric parameters on the interaction stiffness magnitude.

Keywords:

• horizontal directional drilling
• pipe bursting
• pipe-soil interaction
• shear stiffness

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a Strategic Research Grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.