Pipe Uplift Resistance in Frozen Soil and Comparison with Measurements

Abstract

The analysis and design of buried chilled pipelines in frost heaving soils warrants a study of the complex pipe‐soil interaction. Stress gradients are generated at the interface between frozen and unfrozen ground because of differential heave, produced as the chilled pipe crosses from the unfrozen, heave‐susceptible terrain to the frozen, nonheaving one, resulting in the generation of uplift forces acting on the pipe portion buried in the frozen ground. The present paper characterizes the load‐resistance response of the uplift‐resistant side of the pipe section as it is pulled upward at a constant displacement rate through the frozen ground. Crack patterns in the frozen soil around the pipe section were observed in uplift tests. In view of this, a theoretical assessment of tension‐fractured and compression‐crushed zones, developed in the vicinity of the pipe, producing a reduced peak uplift resistance is discussed.