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Underground Space 4 (2019) 59–71
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Application of the finite element method for evaluating the

stress distribution in buried damaged polyethylene gas pipes
R. Khademi-Zahedi
Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Ahvaz, Iran

Received 18 February 2018; received in revised form 18 April 2018; accepted 6 May 2018
Available online 12 July 2018

Abstract

During the loading process, buried gas pipes can experience severe stresses due to soil- structure interaction, the presence of traffic
load, the soil’s column weight, daily and/or seasonal temperature changes and uniform internal pressure. In this research, the finite ele-
ment method is employed to evaluate the behavior of buried Medium Density Polyethylene (MDPE) pipes which have been subjected to
damage at the pipe crown. The modeled pipe damage ranges from a very small circular hole to a large circular hole and elliptic holes with
various minor to major diameter ratios, a/b, to simulate circular to crack-shaped defects. The computer simulation and stress analyses
were performed using the ANSYS software finite element package. The stress distribution around the defect was determined under the
aforementioned mechanical and thermal loading conditions. Then, the maximum values of Von Mises stresses in the damaged buried PE
pipes, which were evaluated by finite element solution, were compared with their corresponding reduced strength for safe operation with
a life expectancy of fifty years. Based on the results, the maximum Von Mises stress values in the defective buried polyethylene gas pipe-
line are significantly above the pipe strength limit at 35 °C. The previously mentioned stress values increase with the following factors:
temperature increase, increase in circular hole diameter and decrease in elliptic hole diameter ratio (a/b). The maximum stress in the dam-
aged PE pipe is due to the simultaneous loading effects of soil column weight, internal pressure, vehicle wheel load and pipe temperature
increase. Additionally, the novel finite element models and stress plots for the buried damaged pipe and the pipe material allowable
strength will be used to investigate the correct repair method for the damaged gas pipeline and to choose the best patch arrangement
which will assure a safe repair.
Ó 2018 Tongji University and Tongji University Press. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Owner. This is an open access article
under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Keywords: Buried gas distribution pipes; Circular and elliptical defects; Medium Density Polyethylene (MDPE); Von Mises stress; Finite element method;
Temperature variation

1 Introduction and their excellent long-term performance as pressure pipes

In recent years, polyethylene materials have been the
subject of vast attention and research. These materials have
a wide range of industrial applications. The commercial
advantages of polyethylene pipes including their flexibility,
fatigue resistance, durability, coilability, high ductility,
light weight, corrosion and chemical resistance, seismic
resistance, low life cycle costs, reduced installation costs
E-mail address: reza.khademi.zahedi@gmail.com
have increased the interest of gas distribution companies to
use them in ploughing applications for gas distribution net-
works. The steady growth in the use of polyethylene pipeli-
nes for natural gas transmission and distribution networks
and the plan of natural gas distribution companies to
extend the number of miles of distribution and transmis-
sion PE pipe in the immediate future warrants the need
for safe, reliable and efficient operation of these pipelines
(Green, Rochefort, Wannenmacher, Clark, & Harris,
2007). Buried pipes are supported by embedment which is

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.undsp.2018.05.002
2467-9674/Ó 2018 Tongji University and Tongji University Press. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Owner.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
60 R. Khademi-Zahedi / Underground Space 4 (2019) 59–71
Nomenclature
Symbols and abbreviations
A Difference between maximum and minimum
temperatures for the time period in question
(°C)
C Design coefficient
Di Pipe inside diameter (mm)
Do Pipe outside diameter (mm)
E0 Embedment soil modulus (MPa)
Ep Pipe elastic modulus (MPa)
h Pipe thickness (mm)
Kb Bedding factor
l Pipe length in the model (mm)
Ld Deflection lag factor
MRS Maximum reduced strength (MPa)
pi Pipe inside pressure (mm)
PT Total load above the pipe (MPa)
SDR Standard dimension ratio (SDR = Dh)
t Time (sec)
built by surrounding pipes with firm and stable material
(The Plastic Pipe Institute, 2006b). Among a range of poly-
ethylene materials, medium density polyethylene (MDPE)
pipe materials are recognized as offering excellent long-
term performance as pressure pipes. The applied loads on
buried medium density polyethylene pipe for gas distribu-
tion which should be considered in all the designs and
stress analysis calculations can be categorized as follows
(Shishesaz & Shishesaz, 2008; Shishesaz, 2003):
1- Temperature variations in the soil (and therefore in
the pipe)
2- The weight of the soil column above the pipe
3- The surcharge loads including live traffic and dead
loads above the pipes
4- Gas internal pressure, which is considered to be
approximately 4 bar (405300 Pa)
5- Stress concentration due to local changes in the pipe
geometry
Careful attention is required to minimize the stress level
on the buried pipe caused by the aforementioned applied
loads (Nasirian, 2007; Watkins & Anderson, 2000). The
first calculations on buried pipe stresses and deformations
were performed by Marston (Moser & Folkman, 2008).
Since then, several authors (Alawaji, 2008; Goddard,
1994; Kolonko & Madryas, 1996; Uponor Aldyl
Company, 2004) have investigated the soil-pipe interaction
effects on buried pipes, experimentally, analytically and
numerically. Experimental investigations of underground
spaces are cumbersome, expensive and in some cases,
impractical. Furthermore, while the finite element method
(FEM) is mostly used in CAE (Nguyen-Thanh et al.,
to Time for duration of one complete cycle (sec)
T(y,t)
 Induced temperature in the soil (°C)
T Average temperature for the time period in
question (°C)
W Combined weight of the first two axles (N)
y Depth of the pipe (cm or mm)
a Thermal diffusivity of the soil (cm2/sec) at pene-
tration depth
at Pipe coefficient of thermal expansion 1/°C
DT Temperature change (°C)
Dx Pipe horizontal deflection (mm)
m Poisson’s ratio
r Normal stress in the pipe (MPa)
re Von Mises stress (MPa)
rhh Tangential stress in the pipe (MPa)
rrr Radial stress in the pipe (MPa)
rzz Longitudinal stress in the pipe (MPa)
2011), several researchers have employed commercial FE
packages to model the buried pipe problem. For example,
Shishesaz and Shishesaz (2008) applied the finite element
method and used ANSYS v8.0 software to analyze the
resulting stress effects of different simultaneous loads on
buried gas distribution pipes 120 cm deep in soil. In this
research, the capability of utilizing Medium Density Poly-
ethylene Pipes (MDPE) and the proper sockets made of
High Density Polyethylene material (HDPE) in natural
gas distribution networks in areas with hot climate condi-
tions such as southwest Iran and Ahvaz city was investi-
gated. Nasirian (2007) investigated stresses in simple
pipes with 90-millimeter diameter and polyethylene mate-
rial with connections buried 1.45 m underground. The
gas pressure in the pipe was considered to be 4 bar. In
the mentioned analysis, the soil and pipe were assumed
to be elastic. The soil, pipe and the surroundings are
meshed using the ANSYS software and discretized with
the appropriate finite elements, Solid 95 elements, which
are adopted in the present paper.
Polyethylene piping systems in gas distribution networks
may be damaged during installation or through third party
damage after being placed in service due to several reasons.
All imperfections or damaged sites that would impair the
serviceability of the buried polyethylene pipe must be
detected and repaired. The previous investigations on the
computer modeling and analysis of underground PE pipes
have been performed only for intact buried pipes with no
defects. However, finite element modeling of buried poly-
ethylene damaged pipes can be helpful in designing efficient
repair methods and tools. Therefore, gaining a fundamen-
tal understanding of material failure, which is a major
research topic in material science as well as mechanics, is
 R. Khademi-Zahedi / Underground Space 4 (2019) 59–71 61

necessary to keep structures working properly (Areias,
Rabczuk, & Camanho, 2014; Ghorashi, Valizadeh,
Mohammadi, & Rabczuk, 2015; Ren, Zhuang, Cai, &
Rabczuk, 2016; Ren, Zhuang, & Rabczuk, 2017).
Rabczuk (2013) performed research on computational
methods for fracture and stated that simulating failure
and fracture requires devising suitable models, discretizing
the resulting partial differential equations, and solving
them numerically. Achieving polyethylene pipe repair with-
out interrupting the gas flow by the application of stronger
polyethylene material is known as pipe patching. In gas
transmission networks suffering from different kinds of
damage, designing a patch with a specific shape, size and
mechanical properties such that it can strengthen the
injured buried polyethylene pipe under different loading
conditions requires study, research and extensive experi-
ments (Green et al., 2007). Hence, there is an urgent need
for a comprehensive study to calculate the stresses on the
damaged pipe in order to design a proper patch for reduc-
ing the stress values to the allowable limits or below. How-
ever, fracture simulations are computationally expensive,
utilizing several minutes to hours of CPU time (Hamdia,
Zhuang, Silani, He, & Rabczuk, 2017).
In this research, geometrical discontinuities in the form
of damage, including holes of different sizes in buried
MDPE with a nominal diameter of 4 in. and a standard
diameter ratio (SDR) of 11.5 are simulated. Subsequently,
other types of pipe damage in the form of elliptical holes
with different diameter ratios (a/b) are considered. After
modeling the polyethylene pipe and different surrounding
soils and discretizing the models using a continuum
mechanics-based finite element package (ANSYS soft-
ware), the stress analysis in the damaged pipe is obtained.
Considering the physical characteristics of the pipe and
the soil, linear elasticity relationships are used for the the-
oretical component of the analysis. This paper is organized
as follows: Section 2 presents the design theories for poly-
ethylene buried gas pipe. The geometric and finite element
modeling of the buried damaged pipe using the ANSYS
package are discussed in detail in Section 3. Section 4 con-
cludes the evaluation of the stress results for various load-
ing conditions. Section 5 concludes and summarizes the
manuscript.
nature and their creep behavior is an important issue.
Meanwhile, in the structural and mechanical analysis of
polyethylene, linear elasticity equations can be used for
stress calculations. In the study of the polyethylene struc-
tures for long life applications, it is customary in design
to use a reduced strength, based on a 50-year life and then
treat the material as linearly elastic in the calculations (The
Plastic Pipe Institute, 2006a; Chevron Philips Chemical
Company LP, 2003; The Plastic Pipe Institute, 2001). This
procedure is done either by the use of an effective modulus
or by applying the minimum required strength (MRS), for
which the values are available for polyethylene materials
and the design stress (or maximum allowable stress) that
can be applied to the pipe is obtained from (International
Organization For Standardization, 2004; Shishesaz &
Shishesaz, 2008):
MRS
rs ¼ ð1Þ
C
Here, rs is the design stress, MRS corresponds to the
minimum required strength, and C is the design coefficient
(at least 1.25 for all PE types).
2.1 Analytical stress calculations in an unburied, thick-walled
cylindrical pipe with circular holes under internal pressure
Stress analysis of damaged shells is important in many
engineering applications such as pressurized pipelines, stor-
age tanks and others (Chau-Dinh, Zi, Lee, Song, &
Rabczuk, 2012). The analytical solution for the stress can
be derived to estimate stress associated with the presence
of holes in complex stress fields. Figure 1 demonstrates a
small circular hole which is created radially in the wall of
a pressurized cylinder and shows the applied effective stress
field to the hole in the plane perpendicular to its axis. The

2 Basic design theories for polyethylene underground gas

pipes

In the design of underground gas pipes, the principle of

soil–pipe interaction controls the pipe performance. In this
study, to investigate this interaction and determine the
effect of local changes in pipe geometry in terms of imper-
fections or damaged sites at the pipe crown on the resulting
stress concentrations, the following thermal and mechani-
cal loads (explained in Sections 2.1–2.3) are introduced
and applied to the underground polyethylene gas pipe for Fig. 1. (a) Geometry of a thick walled large cylinder with a small hole in
selected defect arrangements, namely, circular and elliptical the wall under internal pressure; (b) stress field in the hole dimensions and
holes. Essentially, polyethylene pipes are viscoelastic in applied pressure.
62 R. Khademi-Zahedi / Underground Space 4 (2019) 59–71

applied loads on the pipe are considered as static pressure obtain the principal stress values. Therefore, the principal
vectors as shown in Figs. 1a and b. Taking the plane con- stresses in the three principal coordinate directions at point
taining the highest stress values which occur at the inner Y of the inner wall of perforated MDPE pipe can be sim-
surface of the cylindrical pipe, the equations for a thick- plified as follows:
walled vessel yield the following for a large cylinder:


 P i 4k 2 þ 1:3
P i k2 þ 1 rhh ¼ ð9-aÞ
rhh ¼ ð2Þ ðk 2  1Þ
ðk 2  1Þ rrr ¼ P i ð9-bÞ
rrr ¼ P i ð3Þ 0:7P i
rzz ¼ ð9-cÞ
rzz ¼ 2
2vP i
ð4Þ ðk 2  1Þ
ðk  1Þ
In mechanical engineering design, it is typical to com-
in which rrr ¼ P i is the radial stress with respect to the pare equivalent stresses to the actual three-dimensional
cylinder axis and is applied normal to the plane shown in stress state and link them to yield and failure criteria.
Fig. 1a. In Eqs. (2) and (4), k = Do/Di, is the diameter ratio One commonly used criterion involves the definition of
(where Di and Do are the inside and outside pipe diameters, von Mises stress re as below:
respectively), v is Poisson’s ratio, and Pi is the internal pipe " #
2 2 2 1=2
pressure. Due to tensile stress ðrhh Þ, the greatest stress con- ðr1  r2 Þ þ ðr2  r3 Þ þ ðr3  r1 Þ
re ¼ ð10Þ
centration occurs at points Y (as illustrated in Fig. 1a). For 2
perforated plates it can be proven that the maximum tensile
stress is rxx,=3rhh. Considering this assumption, we can in which r1 ; r2 ; and r3 are the principal stresses. Therefore,
write: in the present problem, by substituting the principal stress

 equation in a perforated pipe (Eq. (9)) into Eq. (10), the
3P i k 2 þ 1 equivalent (Von Mises) stress at point Y in the presence
rxx ¼ ð5Þ
ðk 2  1Þ of a hole is:
 1=2
where the x-axis is in the hoop direction of the cylindrical P i 21k 4 þ 3:6k 2 þ 0:27
pipe. Due to the presence of tensile stress rzz, its effect re ¼ ð11Þ
ðk 2  1Þ
should also be considered on the tensile stress at point Y.
Therefore, the greatest stress concentration is at the points However, research on shell fracture mechanics is com-
Y, where plex compared to continuum problems due to the combina-

 tion of in-plane and out-of-plane loading. Because
3P i k 2 þ 1 analytical solutions have been derived only for shells of
r0xx ¼ 3rxx  rzz ¼  rzz ð6Þ
ðk 2  1Þ simple geometries and boundary conditions, numerical
methods have been developed to address practical shell
By substituting Eq. (4) into the above equation, we
problems with complicated shapes and boundaries. A pop-
obtain:

 ular method to analyze shell structure is the finite element
0 P i 3k 2 þ 3  2t method (FEM), for example, the numerical solutions devel-
rxx ¼ ð7Þ oped by T. Belytschko’s group (Rabczuk, Areias, &
ðk 2  1Þ
Belytschko, 2007; Rabczuk, Gracie, Song & Belytschko,
Now, if the internal pressure is also applied inside the 2010). Additionally, alternative methods have been devel-
hole, the stress value at point Y in the axial direction of oped recently by T. Rabczuk’s group (Amiri, Milan,
x is more than rxx obtained from Eq. (7), because the fur- Shen, Rabczuk, & Arroyo, 2014; Areias & Rabczuk,
ther contribution of pressure at point Y creates an effective 2013; Areias, Rabczuk, & Msekh, 2016; Nguyen-Thanh
hoop stress at the inner wall equal to that of a cylindrical et al., 2015, 2017) to model problems of damaged and
with an infinite radius ratio. It can be shown that the afore- cracked shells under various loading conditions.
mentioned extra hoop stress in the limit will approach +Pi,
which may be superimposed on Eq. (6) to give the maxi- 2.2 Temperature variation in the soil and pipe
mum hoop stress in a large cylindrical pipe with a small cir-
cular hole: To obtain thermal stress values in buried pipelines, it is


P i 4k 2 þ 2  2m necessary to have ground temperature information.
rhh ¼ ð8Þ Temperature variations in the soil and pipe can occur over
ðk 2  1Þ
a day or a season. Knowledge of the ground temperature
For an isotropic elastic pipe material with Young’s change is necessary to estimate the thermal stresses which
modulus of E = 427 MPa and Poisson’s ratio of t = 0.35 may develop in the underground pipe. In this research,
for MDPE, (similar to polyethylene pipes in gas transmis- we selected Ahvaz city in the hot climate area of southern
sion networks), the previous equations can be simplified to Iran as temperature variations are very great and
 R. Khademi-Zahedi / Underground Space 4 (2019) 59–71
induce significant thermal stresses in structures even in
underground spaces (Khademi-Zahedi, 2011; Nasirian,
2007; Shishesaz & Shishesaz, 2008). The ground tempera-
ture variation at any depth can be formulated and deter-
mined for different areas. The ground temperature may
be calculated at any depth, according to Eq. (1) as:
"  1 # "  12 #
 p 2 2p t p trucks is calculated according to American Association of
T ðy; tÞ ¼ T þAexp y  cos y
a to to a to
ð12Þ
where T(y,t) is the induced temperature in the soil, y is
 Shishesaz (2008) describe the theoretical approaches for
the depth in question (cm), t is the time (sec), T is the
average climate temperature for the time period and loca-
tion of interest, A is the difference between maximum and
minimum temperatures for the time period and location
of interest, a is the thermal diffusivity of the soil
(cm2/sec) at the penetration depth and to is the time for
one complete temperature cycle. This equation also shows
that increasing the pipe’s installation depth to any reason-
able value makes the pipe (and its surrounding medium)
more insensitive to changes in temperature during the
daytime at ground level. Although the results in this
research are extracted for a special area (the city of
Ahvaz), they can be used for other locations with similar
seasonal changes in climate during a year. According to
Tabatabaii, Ameri, & Behbahani (1999) and Williams
and Gold (1976), on a 50 °C summer day, the soil temper-
ature at 125 cm depth remains constant and equal to
approximately 35 °C. Therefore, assuming the worst case
of a sudden temperature reduction in a pipe in direct con-
tact with the soil, it can experience a 15 °C temperature
reduction (DT = (35–50)°C) after installation. Addition-
ally, on a cold winter day, a similar trend is observed:
the minimum soil temperature at 125 cm depth remains
constant and equal to approximately 13 °C. If a pipe with
a minimum temperature of 8 °C is installed, a 5 °C tem-
perature increase (DT = (13–8)°C) will occur in the pipe
(Khademi-Zahedi, 2011). In this research, the effects of
temperature variations are also investigated based on
the previously mentioned temperature changes.
2.3 Soil column weight above the pipe
An estimation of the load from the weight of the soil
and the pavement is of great importance in buried pipe
design. In the design of buried polyethylene pipelines, it
is assumed that the overburden load applied to the pipe
crown is equal to the weight of the soil column projected
above the pipe. However, the actual load applied to a bur-
ied polyethylene gas pipe may be considerably lower, since
shear resistance transfers part of the soil load to the trench
sidewalls and embedment. Theoretical approaches for cal-
culating the soil column weight load on the buried pipe
crown are well described in (Chevron Philips Chemical
Company LP, 2003).
63
2.4 Surcharge load in terms of traffic load on the pipe
The pressure on the pipe due to a surface vehicular live
load, mainly wheel loads from trucks and trains, depends
on vehicle weight, tire pressure and size, vehicle speed
and many other factors. The most common loading used
in design is H20 highway loading. Wheel loading for H20
State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO)
standards. Wheel loading may be treated as a distributed
or a concentrated load on the pavement. Chevron Philip
Chemical Company LP (2003) and Shishesaz and
calculating vehicular live load on buried pipes.
In addition to the loads described in Sections 2.1–2.4,
the internal gas pressure results in significant stresses in
the pipe wall material. In this research, the operating inside
pressure is assumed to be equal to 4 bars. This is the work-
ing pressure in the metropolitan gas line in Iran.
3 Geometric and finite element modeling (ANSYS software)
In this work, the finite element modeling package of
ANSYS V12 software is used to calculate the applied
stresses in buried, damaged MDPE gas pipe. The pipe,
soil layers and the surrounding material are modeled
and meshed in 3D by proper finite elements. Soil grades
around the pipe’s circumference were selected according
to ASTM standards. The ground surface was assumed
to be covered by a thick layer of asphalt. The physical
properties of soil layers around the pipe and covering
asphalt in this research, which are selected according to
ASTM standards, are listed in Table 1. According to
Fig. 2a, a burial depth of 125 cm was selected for the
pipe, an optimum burial depth used by gas companies
at which daily weather changes do not seem to affect
the pipe’s temperature. The dimensions of the trench,
pipe and surrounding soil in our model are presented
in Fig. 2a. The numbers shown beside the model in
Fig. 2a are based on the layer numbers indicated in
Table 1. The stiffness modulus of asphalt can be esti-
mated by the equations mentioned in Nasirian (2007):
kg N
S m ¼ 17:3  104 ¼ 173  106 2 ð13Þ
cm2 m
In this research, it is assumed that the damaged poly-
ethylene gas pipe is buried in a 415 mm-wide trench sur-
rounded by a layer of fine gravel.
Polymer pipes made of MDPE with nominal diameter of
4 in. (IPS Standard) and a standard dimension ratio (SDR)
of 11.5 are widely used in the gas distribution industry
(Symons, 1997). In the pipe manufacturing industry, espe-
cially for plastic pipes, the standard dimension ratio (SDR)
is defined as the ratio of pipe outside diameter, Do to the
pipe wall thickness h, as (European Committee for
Standardization, 1996):
64 R. Khademi-Zahedi / Underground Space 4 (2019) 59–71

Table 1
Physical properties of asphalt and soil layers surrounding the pipe (Chevron Philips Chemical Company LP., 2003; Nasirian, 2007; Shishesaz & Shishesaz,
2008).
Layer no. (Fig. 4(a)) Type of material Elasticity coefficient (MPa) Density (kg/m3) Poisson ratio
1 Asphalt 173 2 200 0.35
2 GW soil with 90% compaction 6.90 1 700 0.20
3 SM soil with 90% proctor density 6.90 1 900 0.35
4 GW soil with 95% proctor density 15 2 000 0.35
5 GW soil with 85% proctor density 4.80 1 600 0.20

Fig. 2. (a) Typical geometry and dimensions of the trench, pipe and surrounding materials. (b) Typical finite element model of half of the buried defected
pipe and surrounding material.

D MDPE pipe in gas transmission networks, based on the

SDR ¼ ð14Þ
h standards tables provided by the dominant polyethylene
To investigate the stress distribution in a pressurized PE pipe manufacturers. For computational models in this
gas pipe, a 114.3 mm outside diameter pipe was selected research, the mechanical properties of MDPE pipe of type
with SDR = 11.5. Based on the selected pipe diameter, its PE80 (according to Table 3) are used, according to the
thickness was calculated according to its SDR value. Table 2 properties of polyethylene materials manufactured in Iran
presents the geometry of the aforementioned widely used (Khademi-Zahedi & Shishesaz, 2019).

Table 2
Geometrical characteristics of a widely applied medium density polyethylene pipes (MDPE) for gas distribution BASED ON ASTM D 2513 (Green et al.,
2007; Khademi-Zahedi, 2011).
Nominal diameter in Actual outer diameter in inch Actual inner diameter in inch Standard Dimension ration Minimum pipe thickness in
inch (mm) (mm) DSDR inch (mm)
4 4.5 (114.30) 3.718 (94.44) 11.5 0.391 (9.93)
 R. Khademi-Zahedi / Underground Space 4 (2019) 59–71 65

Table 3
Mechanical properties of medium density polyethylene pipe of type PE80
(Nasirian, 2007; Shishesaz & Shishesaz, 2008).
Elasticity module Yield stress Poisson Thermal expansion
(MPa) (MPa) ratio coefficient (°C1)
427 19.3 0.35 0.000 2

3.1 Finite element modeling and solution for an unburied pipe

with a circular wall hole

In this section, to verify the applicability and accuracy

of the computer simulation and the finite element method
to solve damaged pipe problems, an unburied MDPE pipe
with a 4-inch nominal diameter was modeled and loaded to
a final pressure of 405,300 Pa (4 bar). The modeled pipe Fig. 3. Finite element modelling (FEM) of the perforated pipe using
had circular holes with various diameters (5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, Solid95 elements and presentation of internal pressure vectors and the
15, 17.5, 20, and 22.5 mm) at the pipe crown. A geometric magnified view of the pressurized pipe.
computer model of the pipe was created in ANSYS so that
the center of the coordinate system aligned with the center
Table 2, the outer radius to inner radius ratio in the inves-
of the pipe and the z-axis aligned with the pipe’s axis. Var-
tigated pipe in this paper is as follows:
ious types of finite elements can be used for computational
analysis of the problem. The finite element code used for
57:15
modeling and analysis of the pipe and its surrounding k¼ ¼ 1:210 3 ð15Þ
was ANSYS V12. In this research, since stress distribution 47:22
in the pipe wall is very important, 3D brick-type elements
called SOLID95, available in the ANSYS software package To achieve an approximate (analytical) solution of the
elements library, are employed to model the pipe, patch, stresses in the perforated pipe, Eqs. (9) and (11) can be
and the surrounding medium. This is a hexahedron (having used. As mentioned earlier, many simplifications are
six faces), twenty-node element designed for modeling assumed to drive these equations; the effects of circular
structural problems. The SOLID95 element has three hole diameter variations, bending stresses and 3D stress
degrees of freedom at each node (translations in the x, y, concentration factors are not included. To solve for the
and z coordinate directions). Because this kind of element analytical stress in perforated pipes, the maximum values
includes middle nodes, they are very suitable for solving of stresses in the perforated pipe wall in this research are
curved boundary problems. To have the best mesh control obtained by substituting Eq. (15) into Eqs. (9) and (11),
with a minimal number of finite elements and to reduce the yielding:
computational time and costs, the author spent a great deal
of time obsessing over the meshes. Because a mapped rhh ¼ 6 242 663 Pa
(structured) finite element mesh typically has a regular pat- rrr ¼ 405 300 Pa ð16Þ
tern, with obvious rows of elements, the author built the
geometry as a series of fairly regular volumes and re ¼ 6 202 806 Pa
performed a mapped mesh to control the mesh efficiency.
Figure 3 illustrates the finite element model (FEM) of half
the pipe and hole to use a symmetric boundary condition.
To have a good mesh quality and to minimize the number
of elements to reduce the computational cost, the meshing
step is performed in separate parts. As we illustrated in the
magnified view of the pressurized pipe in Fig. 3, in the
region surrounding the hole, where the accuracy of results
is more important than other areas, we tried to produce
finer meshes. In other areas further from the hole, the
meshes become gradually coarser. However, the meshes
used for calculations are regular for both mentioned areas.
For proper finite element modeling, considering the fact
that the pipe is long, the plane strain constraint in the direc-
tion of the pipe axis is assumed (this constraint is applied to Fig. 4. Contour plot of Von Mises stresses results in perforated
the nodes located at the related coordinates). Considering pressurized pipe (effect of internal pressure).
66 R. Khademi-Zahedi / Underground Space 4 (2019) 59–71

The good performance of the present method is demon-
strated in Table 4 by a number of numerical examples.
Maximum values of hoop and Von Mises stresses for differ-
ent hole diameters derived by the finite element method
and their relative percentage difference from the analytical
solution are presented. Additionally, to obtain accurate
results, the postulated model was run based on different
mesh conditions (and element numbers) until proper con-
vergence was reached. Specifically, to investigate the effect
of mesh size on the accuracy of the results, identical models
with various numbers of meshes were created. The results
are presented in Table 4. Considering the obtained solu-
tions for the hoop and Von Mises stresses from the finite
element solution and comparing them with the analytical
solution values (Eq. (15)), it can be concluded that:
1- For damaged pipes models longer than 0.5 m,
increasing the pipe length will not affect the maxi-
mum stress values at the damage location
significantly.
2- Increasing the hole diameter of the damaged pipe will
increase the value of hoop and Von Mises stresses.
3- If the distribution of the implemented finite elements
is done properly, increasing the number of elements
will not affect the results. Therefore, the computa-
tional costs can be reduced significantly.
4- The relative error values between analytical and finite
element solutions are acceptable for smaller hole sizes
but they increase for larger hole diameters. The main
reason for this difference is that the assumption of
plane stress for simplicity in the analytical solution
is not valid for larger holes. Another influencing fac-
tor is the 3D effects of the model. In addition, the
effect of bending stress is more important for pipes
under internal pressure with larger-size damage. All
these issues are ignored in the analytical solution
but considered in the finite element solution.
5- In the finite element solution, the maximum values of
hoop and Von Mises stresses (according to Fig. 3) in
the perforated pipe occur on the internal surface
(inside) of the pipe and around the hole at the sides
of the damage. This result for the location of maxi-
mum value of hoop and Von Mises stresses was con-
sistent with the analytical solution.
Based on these results, the selected finite elements and
applied boundary conditions in this section are appropriate
for carrying out the next stages of the research and the finite
element modeling of perforated pipes (Khademi-Zahedi,
2011). However, in the case of simulating the fracture pro-
cess, it has been known for decades in the computational
mechanics community that traditional finite element
polynomial interpolation is inadequate and efficient
fracture methods should be developed (Areias, Msekh, &
Rabczuk, 2016; Areias & Rabczuk, 2017; Areias et al.,
2014; Khademi Zahedi, Alimouri, Nguyen-Xuan, &
Rabczuk, 2017).
3.2 Finite element modeling of damaged polyethylene pipe
buried in a trench
To further investigate the effect of the aforementioned
applied mechanical and thermal loads on the underground
MDPE pipe, we performed a 3D finite element modeling of
the pipe, soils and surrounding materials by employing 3D
elements of type Solid95 from the ANSYS package (for the
entire model components) which are appropriate for
analyzing soil-structure problems. Additionally, the soil

Table 4
Relative percentage difference in hoop and von mises stresses derived by analytical and finite element method.
Hole diameter (mm) Pipe Number of Maximum hoop Relative percentage Maximum von Relative percentage difference
length (m) elements stress (MPa) difference in hoop stress (%) mises stress (MPa) in von mises stress (%)
5 0.5 10 395 5.82 6.7 5.70 5.32
13 346 5.82 6.7 5.71 5.15
1.5 14 715 5.82 6.7 5.70 5.32
30 517 5.81 6.7 5.72 4.98
7.5 0.5 10 395 6.01 3.5 6.10 1.33
13 346 6.02 3.5 6.11 1.49
1.5 14 715 6.02 3.5 6.11 1.49
30 517 6.03 3.5 6.13 1.83
10 0.5 10 395 6.44 3.0 6.46 7.31
12 399 6.43 3.0 6.47 7.47
1.5 16 394 6.42 3.0 6.45 7.14
32 400 6.43 3.0 6.47 7.47
12.5 0.5 10 395 6.79 8.8 6.70 8.2
13 346 6.80 8.9 6.71 8.2
1.5 14 715 6.80 8.9 6.71 8.2
30 517 6.81 8.9 6.72 8.2
15 0.5 10 395 7.17 15.1 6.96 12.4
13 346 7.18 15.1 6.97 12.4
1.5 14 715 7.18 15.1 6.97 12.4
30 517 7.19 15.1 6.99 12.4
 R. Khademi-Zahedi / Underground Space 4 (2019) 59–71
and pipe surrounding materials including the soil in the
trench, unaffected ground and asphalt are assumed to be
linear elastic, isotropic materials. Therefore, mechanical
constants such as Poisson’s ratio and the modulus of elas-
ticity (the main inputs to the software) are applied accord-
ing to Table 1. As mentioned before, Fig. 2a illustrates the
dimensions of the trench and pipe surrounding model and
Fig. 2b shows the related 3D finite element model of one-
half the pipe in its surrounding medium. Only half of the
problem is modeled because of the geometric and loading
symmetry. Conta172 and Target170 elements are employed
from ANSYS to incorporate the soil-pipe interaction into
the model through the use of these face to face contact ele-
ments. A fine mesh was applied to regions near the dam-
aged area, but the mesh became coarser in areas far from
the damage. Additionally, applied boundary conditions
for all finite elements in this research are as given in Eq.
(17):
@z ¼  2l ; uz ¼ 0
@x ¼ 0; ux ¼ 0 ð17Þ
@y ¼ 207:15mm; ux ¼ uy ¼ uz ¼ 0
Additionally, in order to find an optimum dimension for
the finite element model of the pipe, soil and surroundings,
the simultaneous effects of the soil column weight and the
internal pressure for various x and y (per the upper surface
of Fig. 5) on the maximum hoop and Von Mises stresses in
the damaged buried pipe are investigated. The results
obtained are presented in Table 4, showing that x = 1.5
m, z = 1.5 m can be employed as acceptable model dimen-
sions. With these dimensions, the maximum values of the
hoop and Von Mises stresses in a pipe with a certain type
of damage will not vary significantly as we increase the
dimensions of the model. The induced stresses in polyethy-
lene gas pipes are due to a combination of internal and
external loads. The most common internal force originates
from the gas pressure, while for buried gas pipes, the most
common external loads are the earth and surcharge loads
as well as the thermal and soil–pipe interactions. As men-
Fig. 5. Three-Dimensional view of the trench and buried pipe.
67
tioned earlier in Section 2.4, vehicle wheel loading can be
treated to act as a distributed or a concentrated force on
the pavement. The most common traffic load used in pipe
design is H20 highway loading. According to AASHTO
standards, the wheel loading for H20 trucks is evaluated
to be 112 869 N in this research. This value accounts for
any dynamic load exerted on the pipe by the wheels. The
magnitude of the traffic loading was selected to be
544,780 Pa for the half finite element model. This value is
exerted on the top of the model as the wheel concentrated
load. In addition, the thermal stresses induced in PE pipes
are considered in finite element models. The input temper-
atures used in ANSYS models are based on the values
explained in Section 2.2 and the MDPE pipe of type
PE80 temperature is taken to be the same as that of the soil
around its circumference at the specific depth. The thermal
expansion coefficient for pipe is considered as follows:
apipe ¼ 2  104 mm
mm
oC ð18Þ
As stated earlier, since polyethylene material undergoes
creep over long term life, it is customary in design to use a
reduced strength based on a 50-year life and treat the mate-
rial as linearly elastic in calculations. Additionally, as sta-
ted before, the internal pipe pressure was assumed to be
equal to 4 bars (405 300 Pa). This is the actual pressure
used in domestic gas pipelines in metropolitan areas of
Iran. In this research, after investigating buried pipe dam-
age, small and large circular holes as well as elliptical holes
with various minor to major diameter ratios, a/b, namely,
1.0, 0.8, 0.6, 0.4, and 0.2, to simulate damage shapes rang-
ing from circular to crack-shaped are chosen for investiga-
tion. During each stage, the ellipse larger diameter is
considered to be 25.4 mm (2b = 1.0 in.). Computer models
are prepared such that the larger diameter is aligned with
the pipe axis. In all finite element models, the pipe at the
hole location is also encased by the soil (the same as the
undamaged part) and the effects of gas leakage to the
trench are ignored.
4 Evaluation of the results
As previously mentioned, the effect of traffic load, soil
weight, pipe temperature change, internal pressure and
the presence of the damaged area were all included to
investigate their overall effect on the stress distribution in
the buried PE pipe. In this research, the value of 1.5 is
selected for the design coefficient (factor of safety). Consid-
ering the operating temperature of 35 °C for underground
pipes buried at a depth of 125 cm (based on climate condi-
tions in hot areas and Ahvaz city (Khademi-Zahedi &
Shishesaz, 2019; Nasirian, 2007;Shishesaz & Shishesaz,
2008; Tabatabaii et al., 1999), according to the reported
minimum strength value for polyethylene PE80 material
(International Organization For Standardization, 2004),
the design stress (maximum allowable stress for the pipe)
for this research is 4.3 MPa (Khademi-Zahedi, 2011). In
68 R. Khademi-Zahedi / Underground Space 4 (2019) 59–71
all stages of this investigation, the mentioned values are
considered as the maximum applicable stresses on the pipe.
4.1 Results of finite element solution for the perforated
buried pipe
In this section, various thermal and mechanical loading
applied to the buried damaged pipe during the operation
period are considered to be software inputs, and the result-
ing induced stresses are investigated and analyzed. The
damage is in the form of circular holes with diameters of
5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, 15, 17.5 and 20 mm in the pipe wall located
at its crown.
4.1.1 The effect of soil column pressure and pipe internal
pressure
Figure 6 demonstrates the simultaneous effects of the
soil column weight and pipe internal pressure on the max-
imum Von Mises stresses in buried perforated pipe for dif-
ferent circular hole diameters. The strength of the pipe
based on a 50-year life expectancy is also superimposed.
Figure 6 shows that in perforated pipe, the stress values
are well above the strength limit of the pipe at 35 °C for
a 50-year life (dashed line) and by increasing the hole size,
the maximum Von Mises stress increases. Therefore, the
pipe should be properly repaired.
4.1.2 Vehicle wheel load
The results of investigating the effects of the concen-
trated load and the distributed vehicle wheel load for differ-
ent hole diameters on the maximum circumferential and
Von Mises stresses in a pipe indicate that the concentrated
load and the distributed load at 1.25 m depth (depth of
pipe crown) have similar effects. Resulting values show that
the stress for the concentrated wheel load is slightly higher
than that for the distributed wheel load (maximum 5%);
therefore, in the subsequent modeling and analysis, a con-
centrated wheel load is applied.
Fig. 6. Plot of maximum Von Mises stress variations in a perforated
buried pipe for different sizes of hole diameters under simultaneous effects
of soil column weight and pipe internal pressure.
4.1.3 The simultaneous effect of vertical soil pressure, pipe
internal pressure, vehicle wheel load and temperature
variations
Figure 7 demonstrates the simultaneous effect of the soil
load, internal pressure, concentrated vehicle wheel load
and thermal load on the maximum Von Mises stress in bur-
ied perforated pipe for different hole diameters. The plots
shown in Fig. 7 demonstrate that:
1- In the damaged pipe, the values of the Von Mises
stresses are considerably above the allowable stress.
2- A temperature rise increases the maximum Von Mises
stress in the pipe. The maximum Von Mises stress in
the pipe occurs with simultaneous loading and a 5 °C
temperature increase.
3- A temperature decrease reduces the maximum Von
Mises stress.
4.2 Finite element modeling of buried polyethylene pipe with
elliptical-shaped damage
In this section, to investigate a more critical type of
damage, elliptical-shaped defects on the crown of the bur-
ied MDPE pipe were modeled. In this case, minor to major
diameter ratios, a/b were selected and used to simulate a
circular to a longitudinal crack-shaped defect by allowing
a/b to approach a small value. The results of the finite ele-
ment solution method are discussed as follows. Addition-
ally, the elliptical hole is designed so that its major
diameter lies along the pipe length.
Figure 8 illustrates the effect of soil load and internal
pressure on the maximum Von Mises stress values in the
buried gas distribution pipe with elliptical holes with differ-
ent a/b diameter ratios. Like most of the figures, the upper
curve pertains to the damaged pipe. Dashed curves indicate
the allowable stress values for two design temperatures
(20 °C and 35 °C).
Fig. 7. Plot of maximum Von Mises stress variations in pipe for different
sizes of hole diameter (Simultaneous effects of vertical soil pressure, pipe
internal pressure, load of vehicle wheel and temperature variations).
 R. Khademi-Zahedi / Underground Space 4 (2019) 59–71 69

in such areas. The optimum burial depth was found to be

1.25 m, while the maximum and minimum ground surface
temperatures at this depth were calculated to be 35 °C and
13 °C, respectively. Furthermore, the soil column weight
above the pipe, the surcharge loads in terms of H20 traffic
load, the gas pressure of 4 bar inside the pipe and the stress
concentrations due to a local change in geometry (in the
form of damage) were imposed on the pipe resulting in
the following conclusions:

1- The results of the finite element solution for stress

Fig. 8. Plot of maximum Von Mises stress variations in buried pipe for
different values of elliptical hole diameter ratios (effect of vertical soil
pressure and pipe internal pressure).
Fig. 9. Plot of maximum Von Mises stress variations in buried pipe for
different diameter ratios in elliptical hole (simultaneous effect of soil load,
internal pressure, wheel load and thermal loads subjected by maximum
temperature drop of 15 °C and increase of 5 °C).
Figure 9 demonstrates the effect of simultaneous soil
load, internal pressure, wheel load and thermal loads sub-
jected to a maximum temperature drop of 15 °C and
increase of 5 °C on the maximum Von Mises stress values
for a buried gas distribution pipe with elliptical holes with
different diameter ratios, along with the strength of the pipe
based on a 50-year life expectancy.
5 Conclusion
If the replacement of damaged MDPE pipes in gas
transmission networks is not intended, their correct repair
is the only acceptable choice. Therefore, stress values
should be calculated for the damaged section of the pipe
so that by applying the proper repair method, the stress
is reduced to levels below the allowable values to prevent
damage propagation. For this purpose, in this research,
3D finite element modeling of buried damaged pipes is per-
formed using ANSYS software. Stress variations in the
buried damaged MDPE gas pipe were fully investigated
in a hot climate region (city of Ahvaz in southwest Iran)
to determine the critical stress values caused by defects at
the pipe crown, enabling us to find the applicable method
for repairing damaged MDPE gas transportation piping
values in a perforated pipe under internal pressure
agree with the approximate values obtained from
the analytical solution. By increasing the hole diame-
ter, the percentage difference between the analytical
solution and the finite element solution increases.
This difference in results is mainly due to the invalid
assumption of plane stress for simplification of the
analytical solution and the presence of 3D effects.
Additionally, in a perforated pipe under internal
pressure, bending stresses appear. In the analytical
solution, these effects are ignored, while in the model-
ing solution, all the described effects are considered.
2- The presented method is simple to implement, com-
putationally efficient and can be easily applied to bur-
ied pipe models. If the model elements are chosen and
distributed properly, increasing the number of ele-
ments causes only minor changes in the results.
Therefore, the cost of the analysis or the computa-
tional costs can be reduced significantly.
3- The results of the finite element solution indicate that
in the perforated pipe, the maximum values of hoop
and Von Mises stresses occur in the inner pipe surface
and around the hole (as it was concluded from the
analytical solution).
4- The maximum value of the Von Mises stress in the
perforated buried pipe is far more than the maximum
allowable stress on the medium density polyethylene
material used for manufacturing the pipe. Therefore,
a damaged pipe should be replaced or repaired
immediately.
5- By increasing the diameter of the circular hole and
the ratio of elliptical hole diameters, the value of
maximum Van Mises stress in the buried damaged
pipe increases continually.
6- As the temperature rises, the maximum Von Mises
stress in polyethylene pipes increases. The maximum
stress values in the damaged pipe occur for simultane-
ous soil load, internal pressure, vehicle wheel load
and pipe temperature increase.
7- While investigating the effects of circular hole damage
is important, elliptical hole damage shows higher
stress values.
8- By considering the obtained plots for stress values in
buried damaged pipe and comparing it with allow-
able stress values for the pipe, the correct damage
repair method can be investigated.
70 R. Khademi-Zahedi / Underground Space 4 (2019) 59–71
Finally, the innovation in the current study is that this
study develops and implements very simple and effective
computational methods to treat real industrial fully three-
dimensional complicated problems in a large underground
space with different soil, pipe materials and geometries and
geometrical discontinuities including a crack in the pipe.
Although the real model is very large and complicated,
the author prepared the simplest possible effective compu-
tational model to make it applicable for real physical con-
ditions. The most appropriate finite elements were selected
to model the pipe and the surrounding medium and the
pipe-soil interactions. To have the best mesh control with
the fewest finite elements and to reduce the computational
time and cost, the author spent a great deal of time obsess-
ing over the meshes and built the geometry of the physical
underground space model as a series of fairly regular vol-
umes and prepared the best mapped volume meshes. The
author evaluated and increased the quality of the mesh in
the damage and crack regions to increase the model accu-
racy. For example, to model an underground space of
dimensions 1.5 m depth  1.25 m height  1.5 m depth
(trench length) including soil material and a small longitu-
dinal crack, only 82 994 elements were employed. This
number of finite elements can be modeled and run using
a normal personal computer in a reasonable period of time
without suffering problems with solution accuracy. There-
fore, these models are computationally cost-effective. The
three-dimensional finite element models created in this
research, including selected boundary conditions, applied
loads and material properties are used to investigate the
appropriate patch repair method for the buried damaged
gas pipes. This can be done by simply applying and model-
ing a patch with a specific shape and dimension at the dam-
aged area of the buried pipe. The generated finite element
models in this research are the best basis with which to pre-
pare computationally cost-effective patch repair models.
Conflict of interest
There is no conflict of interest.
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