Undrained stability analysis of trenches for buried submarine pipelines

Abstract

The stability of trenches for buried submarine pipelines (TBSPs) during excavation and/or prior to backfilling has not received enough attention in the literature. In this study, the undrained stability of TBSPs in horizontal and inclined seabeds with shear strengths increasing linearly with depth is investigated using the lower and upper bound finite element limit analysis (FELA). The surcharge due to excavated soils and trenching machines is reasonably considered. Extensive parametric studies are performed on the trench slope angle β, normalized width of trenching machine L/H, dimensionless strength gradient Hk/s_u0 and the volume ratio R (for inclined seabed only) of the excavated soil stacked on the upside and downside of trenches. The actual results are accurately bracketed by the computed upper and lower bound solutions. For the trench with horizontal seabeds, the maximum stability can be obtained under β?=?70°–80°. For inclined seabeds, the global stability of TBSPs roughly reaches peak value for different combinations of L/H and β when R?=?0.15–0.3.