Vertical load on a conduit buried under a sloping ground
Abstract
Conduits are commonly installed below the ground for utility conveyance around the world. Vertical load on a buried conduit is an important parameter that needs to be known to ensure its safe design and installation. Consideration of soil arching in load calculations helps achieve a more realistic and efficient design. In the past, considering the arching effect, the design charts have been presented for use by practicing engineers to calculate the vertical load on the conduit buried below the level ground. There are currently no design charts for calculating the vertical load on the conduit buried under a sloping ground. In this paper, an attempt has been made to present the derivation of a generalized analytical expression considering that the soil mass overlying the conduit has a sloping face and the arching phenomenon takes place. The developed generalized expression has been used to present some design charts considering specific values of slope geometry, soil properties and burial depths. Furthermore, analytical results for specific soil parameters have been compared with the results extracted from a commercial software PLAXIS 2D, for a developed numerical model and an independent study.
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of Publication
2021
Volume
24
Issue
6
Publication Title
Geomechanics and Engineering
Publisher
Techno-Press
School
School of Engineering
RAS ID
39690
Copyright
subscription content
First Page
599
Last Page
610
Comments
Khan, M. U. A., & Shukla, S. K. (2021). Vertical load on a conduit buried under a sloping ground. Geomechanics and Engineering, 24(6), 599-610. https://doi.org/10.12989/gae.2021.24.6.599