L51378 Analysis and Testing of Pipe Response to Buried Explosive Detonations (New)

This report describes a blasting research program conducted to develop simple procedures for predicting the maximum stresses in steel pipelines induced by nearby, buried, explosive detonations. Empirical analyses and test data were used to derive equations for estimating maximum ground displacement and particle velocity. Functional relationships were derived for the maximum pipe strains and stresses. Experimental data were then used to develop equations for estimating maximum pipe stresses induced by point and parallel line explosive sources. The applicability of the prediction equations was extended to include pipe stresses from more complex geometries. As part of this research program, model and full-scale experiments were conducted on point, line, and grid explosive sources located at various positions near buried pipe.

The results of these experiments were used to develop empirical equations for the maximum circumferential and longitudinal elastic stresses caused by point and parallel line explosive sources, and to develop mathematical models for ground motion and pipe response. Stresses from more complicated geometries, such as line and grid sources at an angle to the pipe, are calculated by simplification into equivalent point and parallel line sources. Methods are also presented for: calculating stresses on a pipe near a free surface, determining the effects of a trench between the pipe and explosive source, and calculating stresses in two-media environments (such as rock masses adjacent to the buried pipeline).