Experimental-numerical study on the structural failure of concrete sewer pipes

The structural failure of round and egg-shaped sewer pipes is investigated by means of laboratory experiments and finite element method analyses. Two different round pipes are considered, which have an inner diameter of 400 mm and 500 mm, and are respectively referred to as R400 and R500 sewer pipes. The egg-shaped pipe considered in this study has a horizontal inner diameter of 400 mm and a vertical inner diameter of 600 mm, and is labeled as the E400/600 sewer pipe. Sewer pipes with these dimensions are most commonly used in the Netherlands. In full-scale experimental tests the sewer pipe specimens are subjected to biaxial loading, whereby the horizontal pressure loading is set equal to 1/3 times the vertical pressure loading. This loading condition is representative of a sewer pipe embedded in a well-graded sandy gravel and subjected to neutral horizontal earth pressure. Apart from the global load displacement behaviour, the local strain response is measured at various locations, which indicates how the applied load is distributed across the sewer pipe. The fracture pattern at catastrophic failure is recorded by means of cameras placed at the front side of the pipe specimen. The round pipes fail under the development of 4 distinctive failure cracks, which are located at the top and bottom of the sewer pipe, and halfway the left and right sides. The egg-shaped sewer pipes also fail under the development of 4 failure cracks, which emerge at the top and bottom of the pipe, and at the top-left and top-right sides. The round R500 pipe fails at the lowest ultimate failure load, which is, respectively, a factor of 1.16 and 2.25 smaller than the ultimate failure loads of the round R400 pipe and the egg-shaped E400/600 pipe. The FEM models of the round and egg shaped pipes accurately predict both the failure response and the fracture pattern measured in the experiments. Accordingly, the FEM model of the round R400 sewer pipe is used to analyse the sensitivity of the overall failure response of the sewer pipe to various parameters, which are the load contact area, the ratio between the applied horizontal and vertical loads, the wall thickness of the sewer pipe, and the tensile strength, mode I toughness and Young’s modulus of the concrete. The variation of these parameters mimics how the load bearing capacity of a sewer pipe decreases under the effects of soil erosion, changes in lateral earth pressure, biochemical degradation, and ageing. The knowledge obtained from the experimental–numerical study may support the decision making process on maintenance and replacement of sewer systems.