Analytical Study of Lateral Buckling of Pipelines with Initial Imperfection Based on Fixed-Fixed Beam Model

Abstract

The beam analysis model and the initial imperfection are predominant factors in analyzing the lateral buckling behavior of submarine pipelines under high temperature. However, the existing beam models do not consider the inhibition provided by the virtual anchor point of the pipeline. In this study, a fixed-fixed beam model is introduced to simulate the lateral buckling response of a submarine pipeline. This model considers the suppression tension provided by the virtual anchor point during the pipeline feeding-in process, which better reduces the buckling response phenomenon of the pipeline. Based on the assumption of rigid-plastic pipe-soil interaction, the analytical solution of the buckling development of pipeline under full-contact repetitive cosine imperfection is derived. The effectiveness of the fixed-fixed model is verified by comparing with the analytical solutions in other literature. The influence of the imperfection model, the temperature difference, and the soil resistance on the pipeline buckling is investigated. Finally, the size effect of the pipeline on the effective axial force development is discussed. The results show that the pipeline undergoes stress vibration under tensile force, and the frequency and density of the pipeline stress vibration increase with the increase of the initial defect amplitude. Increasing the diameter–thick ratio will significantly increase the bending amplitude and bending stress of the pipeline. Attention should be paid to the fatigue damage caused by continuous stress mutations during pipeline buckling, which could further lead to the structural destruction of the pipeline.