Impact assessment of traffic-induced vibration on natural gas transmission pipeline

The purpose of this paper is to present a study of impact assessment of the traffic-induced vibration on a buried natural gas transmission pipeline. The basic assumption in this study is that the traffic on pipeline-transportation route crossing might have a significant impact on natural gas pipeline structural integrity due to the traffic-induced vibration which propagates from the road surface through the soil and excites the buried natural gas pipeline. The resulting dynamic stress causes pipeline material fatigue loading which consequently may cause pipeline failure with the gas release into the environment exposing the population and the buildings in pipeline vicinity to a significant threat. The experiment on operating buried natural gas pipeline was conducted where measurements were performed on the road surface, the two operating buried natural gas pipelines of external diameter 500 mm and 250 mm and on corresponding casing pipes. The measurement data analysis was performed and the results were used for determination of pipeline lifetime period in the model for theoretical estimation of pipeline lifetime which has been exposed to traffic-induced vibration. The findings of the study in this paper show that the traffic-induced vibration on given buried natural gas pipeline is detectable, however this vibration, compared to the other factors which are influencing pipeline's structural integrity, does not have a significant impact on pipeline lifetime period. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.