Lateral Buckling Analysis of Submarine

Pipeline with one arch Initial

Imperfection
Linping Guo
Lecture
Key Laboratory of Soft Soil Engineering Character and Engineering Environment
of Tianjin, Tianjin Chengjian University
Lecturer; CCCC Tianjin Port Engineering Institute, Ltd., Key Laboratory of Port
Geotechnical Engineering, Ministry of Communications, PRC, Key Laboratory of
Geotechnical Engineering of Tianjin: guolinping1986@163.com

Run Liu
Professor
School of Civil Engineering, Tianjin University: liurun@tju.edu.cn

Aiwu Yang
Professor
Key Laboratory of Soft Soil Engineering Character and Engineering Environment
of Tianjin, Tianjin Chengjian University: tulilab@163.com

Jinfang Hou
Engineer; CCCC Tianjin Port Engineering Institute, Ltd., Key Laboratory of Port
Geotechnical Engineering, Ministry of Communications, PRC, Key Laboratory of
Geotechnical Engineering of Tianjin: jinfanghou@163.com

ABSTRACT
The one arch initial imperfection is one of the main forms of initial imperfections of submarine
pipelines. It constitutes the fundamental element of other imperfection forms. Pipeline with initial
imperfections will easily cause failure due to overall buckling under thermal stress and internal
pressure. Therefore, it is vitally important to study the overall buckling of submarine pipeline with one
arch imperfection. Overall lateral buckling is the main form of deformation to pipeline unburied or
buried with shallow depth. On the basis of the characteristics of the one arch initial defect, this paper
analyzed the overall lateral buckling of submarine pipelines. Based upon a practical engineering
project, this paper studied the influences of existence of imperfection, imperfection amplitude changes,
and constraint changes of the foundation soil on the lateral buckling characteristics and its axial load of
submarine pipelines. The analysis results have shown that the existence of initial imperfection will
easily cause pipeline buckling; the temperature difference of pipeline with initial imperfection
decreases, and the buckling topology of the pipeline changes with the increase of imperfection
amplitude; the critical temperature difference increases with the increase of friction coefficient, while
the axial load in the pipeline after buckling also increases.
KEYWORDS: submarine pipeline, initial imperfection, lateral buckling, temperature
difference.

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 Vol. 21 [2016], Bund. 05 1736

INTRODUCTION
Since the early seventies of the last century submarine pipelines have gradually become
the main means of transporting oil and gas offshore in the whole world. In-service
hydrocarbons must be transported at high temperature and pressure, and thermal stress
together with the Poisson effect will result in additional stress in the steel pipeline, which will
cause the pipeline to expand longitudinally. For constraint of the foundation soil, the pipeline
cannot deform to release stress unless additional stress exceeds the constraint, and sudden
deformation of the pipeline will occur to release thermal stress, which is similar to the sudden
deformation of strut due to stability problems, and overall vertical buckling or overall lateral
buckling will be resulted. Researches show that pipelines, unburied or semi-buried under
temperature difference and internal pressure, are easy to cause overall lateral buckling.
Foreign countries have an early start on overall lateral buckling of submarine pipelines.
On the basis of the achievement of Ker (1978) [1] about lateral buckling of continuous tracks,
Hobbs (1984) carried out analytical solutions of vertical buckling and lateral buckling of ideal
pipelines [2]; Taylor and Gan improved result of Hobbs by considering soil resistance
changes with deformation of pipeline, and deduced analytical solution of lateral buckling of
pipeline with initial imperfection [3, 4]; Taylor and Tran (1993) provided analytical solution
of vertical buckling of pipeline with initial imperfection resulted from foundation soil [5];
Schotman (1987) presented the relationship between soil resistance and pipeline deformation
by model tests and numerical simulation [6]; Sriskandarajah et al. (1999), indicated the
importance of initial imperfection by comparing the results of analytical solution and FEM
[7]; Preston et al. (1999) presented a method to control lateral buckling, which is applying
feed length on pipeline [8]; Hesar made study on interaction between soil and pipeline while
the pipeline move laterally in soft clay by employing Abaqus [9]. Burio et al. (2007) did
research on interaction between soil and pipeline by employing Finite Element Method [10];
Peek and Yun (1999) showed the effects of flotation on lateral buckling of submarine
pipelines. Little research has been done domestically [11]. Liu Run et al. (2005) made
improvement on analysis of submarine pipeline buckling resulted from thermal stress [12];
Liu Zhigang and Sun Guomin (2008) showed the four modes of pipeline lateral buckling [13];
Wang Hongbo (2010) made analysis on interaction between soil and pipe when the pipeline
move in the lateral direction by model tests and FEM, revealing the regularity of the soil
resistance when the pipeline move in lateral and axial direction [14]; Liu Run et al. (2011)
obtained the regularity of the interaction between soil and pipeline by model tests [15,16];
combing practical project, Guo Linping et al. (2013) made analysis on regularity of lateral
buckling of ideal pipeline, and analyzed influencing factors on pipeline buckling [17]. Thus it
can be seen that study on analytical solution of submarine pipeline lateral buckling has
obtained some results, but there should be more attention on finding good way to calculate
thermal stress in the pipeline accurately, obtaining factors and regularity that affect pipeline
buckling, and establishing constraint model of foundation soil to the pipeline.
Based upon analytical solutions of low-order overall lateral buckling of ideal pipeline,
this paper established analysis method on low-order overall lateral buckling of pipeline with
 Vol. 21 [2016], Bund. 05 1737

one arch initial imperfection, and analyzed factors affecting pipeline buckling with
consideration of practical engineering project.

ANALYTICAL SOLUTIONS ON LATERAL BUCKLING

Initial Imperfections
There will be initial deformation on pipeline, which is resulted from manufacture or
installation operations, and named as initial imperfection in this paper. To deduce
conveniently, the topology of initial imperfection considered in this paper is: one arch
imperfection, which is as shown in Figure 1. As to the orders describing imperfection and
pipeline buckling are both no more than 2, they are named as low-order imperfection or
low-order deformation mode.

Figure 1: Topology of the one arch initial imperfection

The topology of the one arch imperfection is identical to that of low-order pipeline
buckling. Therefore, based upon the analytical solutions obtained by Liu et al. (2013) of the
ideal pipelines, the expression of the one arch imperfection can be obtained as:

 2 2 2 2 
vo =
vom 1 + no Lo − no x − cos no x  − Lo ≤ x ≤ Lo (1)
K1  8 2 cos no Lo / 2  2 2


In which, vo is the respective deformation; vom is the imperfection amplitude, and

φL qLo 4
vom = 2.407 × 10 − 3 , according to the pipeline buckling of the ideal pipelines, the
EI
imperfection amplitude is at the place x=0, K1 =15.6985; Lo is the imperfection length;
no2=P/EI, EI is the flexural rigidity; P is the axial force in the buckled region.

Lateral Buckling with One Arch Imperfection

Pipeline with imperfection will keep on deforming along the imperfection. Topology and
axial load distribution of a buckled pipeline with one arch imperfection are shown in Figure 2.
 Vol. 21 [2016], Bund. 05 1738

ΦL q

After buckling
vm

φA q vom φA q
L0/2 L0/2

La Ls Ls La
L/2 L/2

P
P0 φA qL/2 φA qL/2 P0
φA qLs φA qLs

Figure 2: Deformation and load analysis of the pipeline with one arch initial
imperfection
The overall pipeline buckling is resulted from work of external force on it. It can be
known from fundamental principles of mechanics of materials that, work of external force can
be calculated through the strain energy V. According to the method to calculate the strain
energy, as to members with length of l, strain energy when it occurs pure bend is:

M ( x) 2
l
V= ∫0 2 EI
dx (2)

Where I is the inertia; E denotes the Young modulus; M(x) is the bending moment of the
member.
The strain energy will be as follows when it is stretched by the force F:
l F2
V= ∫ 0 2 EA
dx (3)

In which: F denotes the axial force of the member; A is its section area.
Strain in the pipeline is resulted from the bending moment, the axial friction force and the
axial force in the buckled region, therefore the strain energy in the pipeline can be obtained
as:

Lo L
V=
EI
∫ 2 (v' xx − vo' xx )2dx + EI ∫L2 (v' xx )2dx
2 0 2 o
2

(4)

[ ] ∫
Lo L Lo L

∫ 2 φ Aq(v − vo )dx + ∫ 2
Lo φ Aqvdx + ∫ 2 P
(v' x )2 - (v0' x )2 dx - 2
Lo
P
(v' x )2 dx
0
2
0 2 2
2

where v is the deformation value at place x, L is the buckled length; L0 is length of the
imperfection; v’x is the first-order derivative of the deformation; vo’x is the first-order
derivative of the imperfection; v’xx is the second-order derivative of the deformation; vo’xx is
 Vol. 21 [2016], Bund. 05 1739

the second-order derivative of the imperfection. φ A is the axial friction coefficient of the
foundation soil to the pipeline; q is the submerged weight of pipeline per unit length.
To determine the minimum temperature difference when buckling occurs, the minimum
dV
strain energy should be determined first. Solve the equation = 0 , and the relationship
dvm
between buckle length and the axial load in the buckled region can be depicted as:

EI  R L  
2
P = 80.76 1 − 1  o   (5)
L2  75.6  L  

  sin 4.4934(1 + Lo / L ) sin 4.4934(1 − Lo / L )  

where R1 = 4.6031sin(4.4934 Lo / L ) + 2.3016 +  .
  L / Lo + 1 L / Lo − 1  

Make distribution analysis on the slipping part, and the relation between P and P0 can be:

φ AqL
Po − P = + φ AqLs (6)
2

Where P0 is the axial load in the pipeline resulted from temperature difference
and pressure; Ls is the slipping length.
To establish the relationship between the temperature difference and the buckled
length, the internal pressure can be equaled to be temperature difference, which is:
Po = AEα △T (7)

Where A is the sectional area of the pipeline; α is the coefficient of linear expansion;
△T=△T+△T’, △T is the temperature difference, △ T ′ is the equivalent temperature
difference, and DT ' = pD (0.5 − v ) ，D is the outside diameter of the pipeline, p is the internal
2 Eαt
pressure; ν is the Poisson’s ratio, generally take the value 0.3; t is the wall thickness of the
pipeline.
The relationship between the axial load P and temperature difference △T can
be obtained from features of the slipping part. And the relationship between
temperature difference and the buckle length L can be depicted as follows combing
Eqs. (6) and (7):
1
EI  R L   
( )
 φ qL   2
2 2
φ φ q2 A 7
AEα △T = 80.76 2 1 − 1  o   + 1.59766 × 10− 5 A L L − Lo 7 −  A   (8)
L  75.60  L    I  2  

Owing to L is associated with vm, the relationship of temperature difference and

buckle amplitude can be obtained from the relationship of temperature difference
and buckle length.
 Vol. 21 [2016], Bund. 05 1740

ANALYSIS ON PRACTICAL PROJECT

General Condition of the Project

The submarine pipeline is one with an outside diameter of 323.9 mm, wall thickness of
12.7 mm, the designed temperature is 45° C and the designed internal pressure is 4.60 MPa.
Details of the pipeline and the foundation soil are shown in Tabulation 1 and Tabulation 2.
The environment temperature of the sea is 20° C, thus the designed temperature
difference is 25° C. It can be known from Eq. (7) that the equivalent temperature difference of
the internal pressure is 5.18℃, therefore, the total temperature difference can be defined as
30.18℃. According to the foregoing analytical solutions, analyze the regularity of the lateral
buckling of pipeline with imperfection under the designed temperature difference and
pressure difference.

Table 1: Parameters of pipeline

Young Possion Inside Outside Wall Linear Friction
modulus ratio radius radius thickness coefficient
(kPa) (ν) (m) (m) (m) (°C)
2.06*108 0.3 0.149 0.162 0.0127 0.000011

Table 2: Subsoil properties

Thickness of soil Effective unit
Internal friction angle
Description layer weight
(°)
(m) (kN·m-3)
Fine sand 6.5 5.5 35

Effects of Existence of Initial Imperfection

The friction coefficient of foundation soil to the pipeline can be estimated as 0.4
according to the parameters in Tabulation 1. To analyze effects of initial imperfection on
overall lateral buckling, compare the results of pipeline without imperfection and pipeline
with one arch imperfection of 100 mm. The final result is shown in Figure 3.
It can be known from Figure 3 and Figure 4 that whether initial imperfection is
considered has great impact on lateral global pipeline buckling. When initial imperfection is
not considered, the relation curve △T vs. vm and △T vs. L are both “V” type, while the curve
△T vs. vm and △T vs. L are both “r” type when the imperfection is considered.
 Vol. 21 [2016], Bund. 05 1741

100
100
100
100 One arch imperfection
100mm
100mm
One arch imperfection
理想 pipeline
Ideal 80
80
80 理想pipeline
Ideal
80
60

△T/°C
△T/°C

60

60
40
40
60

20
20
40
40 0
0
00 22 44 66 88 10
10 40
40 60
60 80
80 120
100 120
100 140 160
140 160
vm/m L/m

Figure 3: Relationship of △T vs. vm Figure 4: Relationship of △T vs. L

This analysis shows that the temperature difference of buckled pipeline is higher when
imperfection is not considered than when it is considered. This shows that pipeline with initial
imperfection will cause buckling more easily.

Effects of Amplitude of Imperfection

Further analyses on lateral buckling of pipeline with different imperfection amplitudes
were made. The results of pipeline with one arch imperfection are shown in Figure 5 and
Figure 6.
It can be seen from Figure 5 that temperature difference decreases with increase of
imperfection amplitude, which indicates that under the same conditions, the lager the
imperfection amplitude is, the easier the buckling will occur. The curve shape of vm~△T will
change with increase of imperfection amplitude. There will be an extreme point on the curve
when the pipeline is with small imperfection, say v0m < 200 mm, which shows an unstable
deformation of pipeline, and appears to be a sudden deformation; however, when the
imperfection amplitude is more than 200 mm, the extreme point on the curve disappears,
which indicates that the buckling amplitude increases with temperature difference. It can be
seen from Figure 6 that the axial load in the pipeline after buckling also decreases with the
increase of imperfection amplitude, which is a good phenomenon.

Effects of Foundation Constraint

When temperature difference and pressure are fixed, whether overall buckling occurs in
the pipeline depends upon the constraint of foundation soil to the pipeline[15-18]. As to
unburied pipeline, friction load of the foundation soil to the pipeline is the only constraint.
Therefore the friction load has important influence on buckling features. Assume an initial
imperfection amplitude, and conduct an analysis on friction coefficient by comparison of
pipeline buckling with different friction coefficients: 0.01, 0.10, 0.20, 0.30, 0.40. The results
are shown in Figure 7 and Figure 8.
 Vol. 21 [2016], Bund. 05 1742

It can be seen from the curve vm~△T in Figure 7 that the lager the constraint, the safer the
pipeline. However, the curve P0~△T in Figure 8 shows that internal stress in the pipeline
after buckling increases with increase of the friction coefficient.

60
60 v0m = 050 mm
2000
2000 v0m = 050 mm
50mm
v0m = 100 mm
50 v0m = 200 mm v0m = 100 mm
100mm
50 1600
v0m = 300 mm 200mm
v0m = 200 mm
40 1600 v0m = 300 mm
300mm

P0/kN
1200
△T/°C

40
30
1200
800
20
30

10 400
800
20
0 0
00 11 22 33 44 55 66 00 22 44 66 88 1010
vm/m vm/m

Figure 5: vm~△T loci with the different Figure 6: vm~P0 loci with the different
initial imperfection amplitudes initial imperfection amplitudes

60
60 φ = 0.01 3000 φ = 0.01
φ = 0.1 3000
φ = 0.1
50 φ = 0.2 2500
φ = 0.3 φ = 0.2
50
40 φ = 0.4 2500 φ = 0.3
2000
φ = 0.4
P0/kN
△T/°C

40
30 1500
2000
20 1000
30
1500
10 500
20
0 0
1000
00 22 44 66 88 10
10 00 22 44 66 88 10
10
vm/m vm/m

Figure 7: vm~△T loci with the different Figure 8: vm~ P0 loci with the different
pipe-soil friction coefficients pipe-soil friction coefficients

CONCLUSIONS
Based upon theoretical analysis method of lateral buckling of pipeline with one arch
imperfection, and considering the practical engineering project, this paper has analyzed the
effects of the existence of imperfection and amplitude. The following conclusions can be
obtained:
(1)Whether initial imperfection is considered has great impact on overall lateral buckling
of pipeline. The relation curve of △T vs. vm, of pipeline without initial imperfection, is “V”
type, while the curve of pipeline with imperfection is “r” type. Pipeline under same
conditions with initial imperfection will cause buckling more easily.
 Vol. 21 [2016], Bund. 05 1743

(2) Pipeline with imperfection has great impact on relationship of vm~△T, when the
imperfection amplitude is small (such as no more than 200 mm), there will be an extreme
point on the curve, which shows the pipeline will cause unstable deformation. This
phenomenon will, however, vanish with the increase of initial imperfection amplitude; the
larger the imperfection amplitude, the easier the pipeline buckling.
(3) Influence of friction load on relationship of vm~△T is much less. However, it affects
the critical temperature difference dramatically. The critical temperature difference
increases with the increase of friction coefficient, while the axial load in the pipeline after
buckling also increases.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The work described in this paper was funded by the Research Initiation Foundation of
Tianjin Chengjian University (NO. 05140206), Open Foundation of Key Laboratory of Port
Geotechnical Engineering (NO.14-50), China National Natural Science Foundation
(41372291) and Tianjin Natural Science Foundation (NO. 15JCZDJC40600,
15ZCZDSF00220) .

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