Numerical Study of Soil Stability Above Water Mains

Masters Thesis


Mahalingasivam, Kiritharan. 2022. Numerical Study of Soil Stability Above Water Mains. Masters Thesis Master of Engineering (Research). University of Southern Queensland. https://doi.org/10.26192/q7q8v
Title

Numerical Study of Soil Stability Above Water Mains

TypeMasters Thesis
Authors
AuthorMahalingasivam, Kiritharan
Supervisor
1. FirstA/Pr Jim Shiau
2. SecondDr Habib Alehossein
Institution of OriginUniversity of Southern Queensland
Qualification NameMaster of Engineering (Research)
Number of Pages138
Year2022
PublisherUniversity of Southern Queensland
Place of PublicationAustralia
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.26192/q7q8v
Abstract

Disasters caused by natural sinkholes have been a serious issue across the majority of the countries where the karst features formed due to the erosion of subsurface geological formations such as limestones and dolomite. Anthrophonic-driven sinkhole formation due to the water and sewage leakage, mining activities, underground infrastructure development started contributing to the increased number of sinkhole incidents. Water leakage from the underground water pipelines causes several issues such as scarcity of drinking water, damaging the other utilities, and critically triggers roadside sinkholes. Road-related sinkholes incidents are intensively happening in many countries in the world as evidenced by the frequent news from the media. While there has been much research on tracing and predicting the sinkholes using the latest geophysics technologies, very limited research can be found on the actual stability analysis of the soil in the risk zones. Moreover, soil blowout stability analysis was rarely carried out in the past. This thesis sets out to quantify the 'collapse' and 'blowout' stability performance of three idealised cavity shapes of horizontal, semicircular, and circular above the damaged pipe. Finite Element Limit Analysis (FELA) was used to obtain upper and lower bound solutions to the problem. The study provides useful engineering information in the form of design charts and tables for a wide range of design parameters, which would greatly assist in decision-making by practical engineers.

Keywordssinkhole, erosion, limestones and dolomite, blowout stability, cavity shapes, Finite Element Limit Analysis
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020400502. Civil geotechnical engineering
Public Notes

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Byline AffiliationsSchool of Engineering
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Pipeline Burst–Related Soil Stability in Collapse Condition
Shiau, Jim, Mahalingasivam, Kiritharan, Chudal, Bishal and Keawsawasvong, Suraparb. 2022. "Pipeline Burst–Related Soil Stability in Collapse Condition." Journal of Pipeline Systems Engineering and Practice. 13 (3), pp. 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)PS.1949-1204.0000657
Sinkhole stability in elliptical cavity under collapse and blowout conditions
Shiau, Jim, Keawsawasvong, Suraparb, Chudal, Bishal, Mahalingasivam, Kiritharan and Seehavong, Sorawit. 2021. "Sinkhole stability in elliptical cavity under collapse and blowout conditions." Geosciences. 11, pp. 1-15. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences11100421
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Shiau, Jim, Chudal, Bishal, Mahalingasivam, Kiritharan and Keawsawasvong, Suraparb. 2021. "Pipeline burst-related ground stability in blowout condition." Transportation Geotechnics. 29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trgeo.2021.100587