Rotational Characteristics of a Gasketed Bell and Spigot Joint in a Pressurized Reinforced Concrete Pipeline

Abstract

Joints in gravity flow pipelines can be subjected to internal or external pressure, depending on the conditions. Such conditions will influence the rotational stiffness of the joints and therefore may affect the behavior of the pipeline responding to surface loading. The purpose of this article is to characterize the influence of pressure variations on joint stiffness and assess their effect on pipeline response to live loading. First, rotation tests on a 600-mm-diameter reinforced concrete pipeline with gasketed bell and spigot joints subjected to internal positive and negative pressure are described. Next, numerical analyses are performed to approximate the rotational stiffness of the joint observed during the tests. Subsequently, these results are employed in new numerical analyses to evaluate the influence of the rotational stiffness of the joint on the behavior of a buried pipeline subjected to surface loading. It is shown that variations in pressure affect the rotational stiffness of the joint; however, these variations have little effect on the response of a pipeline when subjected to live loading.