Local Buckling of Buried HDPE Pipelines Subjected to Earthquake Faulting: Case Study Via Numerical Simulations and Experimental Testing

This paper presents an integrated experimental and numerical study of high-density polyethylene pipeline behavior under earthquake faulting that induces both bending and compression. The experimental studies were conducted utilizing equipment for large-scale soil-structure interaction and centrifuge-scale split-box testing. The numerical results support the experimental observation that local buckling initiation in the plastic hinge region of the pipeline is due to high plastic strains controlled by local buckling of the cross-section. In addition to evaluating the effectiveness of finite element models for simulating the response of pipelines subjected to faulting, parametric analyses were performed to further investigate the buckling phenomenon.