Three-Dimensional Response of Buried Pipes under Circular Surface Loading

Three-dimensional response of buried pipes under circular surface loading is investigated using the finite-element method. Previous work by Poulos in 1974 is reexamined, considering the longitudinal behavior of pipes under surface loading. Analyses are performed for pipes of varying stiffnesses and embedment depths. When stiff pipes are located close to the ground surface, the burial depth has little impact on the peak deflection. However flexible pipe deflections decrease significantly as embedment depth increases. Not surprisingly, peak moments increase with pipe stiffness and decrease as the pipes become more remote from the ground surface. The comparison of the new results with those of Poulos indicates that his Mindlin solution calculations are somewhat conservative relative to the finite-element solutions for deeply buried pipes, but unconservative at shallow burial.