Predictions of Live Load Effects on Buried Pipes and Culverts

Theoretical predictions are presented for the effects of vehicle loading on buried pipes and culverts. The vehicle loading has been represented as a vertical pressure applied over a rectangular patch on the surface of the soil layer. The soils have been idealised as a linear elastic continuum and the corrugated metal pipes have been idealised using special elastic plate bending elements. This three-dimensional problem has been simplified by exploiting the fact that the cross section of the pipe and the surrounding soil does not vary along the pipe axis, allowing the problem to be solved very efficiently using Fourier transform techniques. The paper presents selected results of a detailed parametric study of the general surface loading problem that have application to prediction of the effects of vehicle loading on pipes under shallow burial. Results are presented for the bending moments and axial thrusts induced in the pipe section as a result of the live loading.