Finite element analysis of settlement of buried natural gas pipelines

The settlement of the buried natural gas pipelines is investigated. The load on the pipelines buried in ground, especially in soft and plastic soil ground, is much more complicated than that on the ground. Because of the pool load bearing capacity of the ground, the pipeline will settle with time. The settlement and stress of the buried pipelines are investigated based on the theories and experiments, and the FEM is used to analyze the stress distribution and displacement of the settled pipelines under different conditions such as soil properties and operation pressure. The results may be used as reference to protect the settlement of pipelines.