Behaviour of buried small flexible pipes

An analytical and experimental investigation was conducted to study the behaviour of buried small diameter flexible plastic drain pipes when subjected to surface wheel loads. Tests were conducted on drain pipes buried under sand and also typical agriculture soil samples from Southern Ontario. In addition to soil types, the effect of soil compaction on the stresses and deformation of the pipe was evaluated.It was found that the modulus of soil reaction is highly dependent on the degree of compaction of the soil adjacent to the pipe. By using compacted sand around the pipe, the modulus of soil reaction can be increased significantly, thereby reducing the deformation of the pipe. Using the appropriate value of the modulus of soil reaction, it is shown that theoretical predictions of pipe deformation correlate well with test measurements. Key words: plastic, flexible, buried, pipe, experimental, deformation.