Geotechnical characterization of muskeg soils for engineering design of buried energy pipelines

能源行业是加拿大经济的主要驱动力，管道在将石油和天然气输送到当地和国际市场方面发挥着至关重要的作用。很大一部分石油和天然气管道埋在地下，并且延伸的距离很大，并且具有高度变化的地形和岩土条件。确保管道的安全和可靠符合每个人的最大利益——确保我们的健康和生活质量，保护社区和环境，促进经济增长和价值创造。加拿大有超过150万平方公里的土地覆盖着麝香土，这种土壤硬度较软，强度较弱；许多能源管道，包括由该提案的一个主要私营部门合作伙伴运营的管道，都位于麝牛土壤中。随着人们对管道完整性的关注日益增加，以“零事故”为共同目标，由于运行负荷和环境危害，muskeg土壤中埋地管道系统的结构完整性和安全性的保证经常面临挑战。因此，迫切需要提高我们对muskeg（有机）土壤的行为和埋在这种土壤中的管道的相关响应的理解。考虑到这一点，将开展一项研究计划：(i)制定合理/最佳的方法来表征麝鼠土高度可变的力学响应；（ii）建立了一个模型来模拟埋在麝香土壤中的管道的土-管相互作用；（iii）验证/校正已建立的土-管相互作用模型，以证明其适合进行工程评估。高素质的人才将在项目过程中得到培训，从而为加拿大的管道岩土工程部门增加专业知识。研究成果对提高管道的完整性和安全性具有直接的高价值适用性。对这一科学上有趣的挑战的调查将导致开发潜在的工程设计指南，从而为整个管道行业做出贡献。

The energy industry is a key driver of the Canadian economy, and pipelines play a vital role in transporting oil and gas to local and international markets. A very large proportion of the oil and gas pipelines is buried below ground and extends over large distances that have highly variable topography and geotechnical conditions. It is in everyone's best interest to ensure that pipelines are safe and secure - to ensure our health and quality of life, to protect the communities and environment, and to promote economic growth and value creation. Over 1.5 million square kilometres of the Canadian landscape is covered with muskeg soil which is soft in stiffness and weak in strength; many of the energy pipelines, including those operated by one of the key private-sector partners of this proposal, are located in muskeg soils. With the increased attention to pipeline integrity with a collective aim "towards zero incidents", assurance of the structural integrity and safety of buried pipeline systems in muskeg soils often face challenges due to operational loads and environmental hazards. As a result, there is a strong need to advance our understanding of the behaviour of muskeg (organic) soils and the associated response of pipelines buried in such soils. With this in mind, a research program will be undertaken to: (i) develop reasonable/optimal approaches to characterize the highly variable mechanical response of muskeg soils; (ii) develop a model to simulate the soil-pipe interaction for pipes buried in muskeg soils; (iii) verify/calibrate the developed soil-pipe interaction model to justify its suitability for engineering evaluations. Highly qualified personnel will be trained during the course of the project, thus adding expertise to the pipeline geotechnical engineering sector in Canada. The research findings will be of direct high-value applicability to the industry for the enhancement of pipeline integrity and safety. The investigation on this scientifically interesting challenge would lead to developing potential engineering design guidelines, in turn contributing to the pipeline sector at large.