Theoretical and numerical methods for analyzing the dynamic response of buried pipelines under blasting vibrations

Blasting impact induced by rock excavation can pose threats to adjacent in-service pipelines. Pipe- soil interaction mechanism is a dominant factor affecting the performance of the pipeline under impact loads. To find the best approaches to accurately calculate the dynamic response of pipelines under impact load, a wide range of literature review is carried out, the theoretical methods are elaborated and the equilibrium differential equations of buried thin-walled pipeline subjected to blasting loads are derived to calculate the pipe-soil interaction mechanism. Moreover, the advantages of the penalty based contact algorithm in the finite element method (FEM) for the treatment of pipe-soil interaction are introduced. Finally, a full-scale experiment with buried pipeline subjected to blasting impact loads is conducted, and the penalty based contact algorithm is utilized in LS-DYNA to simulate the contact and collision between the pipeline and the soil. It is indicated that the FEM with the contact algorithm is a better approach to simulate the pipe-soil interaction and characterize the dynamic response of the pipeline under the blasting load, the calculated velocity-time curves and its dominant frequency is well-matched to the field monitoring data.