Scouring Damage to Buried Pipes Caused by Leakage Jets: Experimental Study

Abstract

This paper reports on an experimental study on the scouring of pipe materials on the outside of leaks caused by soil fluidization. A base experiment was designed consisting of a 3 mm diameter hole angled at 45° to the horizontal in a 11 mm diameter unplasticized polyvinyl chloride (uPVC) pipe. Five parameters were investigated in a sensitivity analysis: soil particle size, leakage flow rate, leak orientation, cover depth, and pipe material. The development of the scour patterns was measured at regular intervals. It was found that the leak jet orientation had the greatest impact on the scouring rate, followed by the leakage flow rate, sand particle size, pipe material, and cover depth.