Wave-induced Pore Pressure around a Buried Pipeline in Gibson Soil: Finite Element Analysis

Abstract

The water wave–induced pore pressure on a pipeline buried in a porous seabed is investigated. Unlike conventional investigations, shear modulus of the seabed is considered to vary with soil depth in this study. The boundary value problem describing soil stresses as well as pore water pressure under periodical wave loading is solved numerically by using a Finite Element Method. Employing the principle of repeatability, the lateral boundary conditions are obtained first and verified with previous analytical solutions. Then, the wave–sealed–pipe interaction problem can be solved to obtain the wave–induced soil response. The effects of variable shear modulus, geometry of the pipe and the degree of saturation on the wave–induced pore pressure are found to be significant.