Protection of buried pipelines using geosynthetics under different loading conditions—A review

Abstract

The role of buried pipelines is becoming significant day by day in recent urban and industrial development. They act as lifelines of modern infrastructure as they carry essential materials. Damage of buried pipes due to loads acting on them, may result in severe hazards in terms of loss of materials, environmental pollution and sometimes loss of lives too. Hence protection of buried pipelines is extremely important. The paper reviews the effects of geosynthetic reinforcement for buried pipes subjected to different loading conditions. The literature is categorized into six types of loads which may act on pipe namely; static load, repeated load, permanent ground deformation, accidental damage, uplift pressure, and explosion. The paper describes the mechanism of mitigation provided by different geosynthetics. The researches show that the introduction of geosynthetic reinforcement effectively reduces stress, strain, deflection, and vibration in pipes. This paper also reflects the performance of different reinforcement configurations around the pipe. The available experimental and numerical investigations indicate the potentials for the use of geosynthetics to minimize the effects of static as well as dynamic loads on buried pipes.