Evaluation of Elastic Stiffness Parameters for Pipeline-Soil Interaction

This paper focuses on elastic stiffness parameters for axial, horizontal, and vertical motions of a pipeline relative to the seabed, with the aim of expressing these parameters in terms of fundamental elastic properties of the soil. Limited information exists in the literature on the axial elastic response of on-bottom pipelines, particularly for nonhomogeneous soil. Therefore, an approximate analytical approach was developed for axial stiffness, focusing on the case of shear modulus proportional to depth. The solution was then verified through numerical analysis. Further numerical analysis was carried out to obtain relationships for horizontal and vertical elastic stiffnesses of on-bottom pipelines. Finally, relationships among elastic stiffnesses were developed. Here recommendations are made for the selection of proper elastic stiffnesses in all three directions of motion. These recommendations allow consistent and rigorous modeling of elastic pipe-seabed interactions with application to the analysis of pipeline laying, buckling, walking, and on-bottom stability. (C) 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.