On the Behavior of a Stuck Curved Pipe-Jacking

Abstract

The influences of coefficient of friction (COF) and contact condition on the soil-pipe interaction have been analyzed and discussed by different related studies. However, the assessments of various jacking forces in literatures rarely explore the impact of changes in the COF caused by alterations in the geological conditions or construction situations. This paper investigated common construction problems in two curved pipejacking cases from Chiayi and Kaohsiung, and one case of straight, long-distance pipejacking in Taichung. We discovered that the actual jacking force often exceeded the pre-construction calculations. To examine the impact of a stuck pipe on the jacking force, this study sets different contact properties between the soil and the pipe within the area of the stuck pipe. Finite element method was used to simulate a horizontal curved pipejacking with a stuck condition. In the stuck pipe simulation, we found that because of the intense interactions between the pipe and the soil, the distribution of stress increased, and the jacking force also increased along with an increase in the area of stuck pipe.