3D Finite Element Model Simulating the Behaviour of Filling Soils Used to Set Up a New Placement Method for Separate Sewer Systems

Abstract

The use of a finite element (FE) method and selection of the appropriate model to simulate soil elastoplastic behaviour has confirmed the importance and sensitivity of the soil properties on the accuracy when compared with experimental data. The properties of the filling soil play a significant role in determining levels of deformation and displacement of both the soil and subterranean structures when using the FE model simulation. This paper investigates the impact of the traffic load on the filling soil deformation when using the traditional method, one pipe in a trench, and a new method, two pipes in a single trench one over the other, for setting up a separate sewer system. The interaction between the buried pipes and the filling soils has been simulated using an elastoplastic FE model. A modified Drucker-Prager cap constitutive model was used to simulate the stress-strain behaviours of the soil. A series of laboratory tests were conducted to identify the elastoplastic properties of the composite soil used to bury the pipes. The FE models were calibrated using a physical lab model for testing the buried pipes under applied load. This allows the FE model to be confidently upgraded to a full-scale model. The pipe-soil interactions were found to be significantly influenced by the soil properties, the method of placing the pipes in the trench and the diameters of the buried pipes. The deformation of the surface soil was decreased by approximately 10% when using the new method of setting up the separate sewer.