Response of Buried District Heating Pipelines Under Relative Axial Movements

District heating (DH) systems are commonly used in urban areas to distribute thermal energy from central heat sources. Buried pipes, with a composite cross-sectional construction, are used transport a heated medium, usually water. These pipes expand and contract radially and axially due to changing water temperatures, invoking soil-pipe interaction situations during operation, and potentially leading to significant pipeline material strains. A series of full-scale tests were undertaken to specifically investigate the influence of thermal expansion on axial pullout resistance using DH pipes buried in sand in a full-scale soil-pipe interaction test chamber. During testing, the pipe is filled with water that is subjected to temperature changes to simulate field conditions. Axial pipe pull-out tests were conducted after applying a given “heating history” with axial pullout force and displacements recorded. The work leads to better understanding of soil-pipe interaction mechanisms generating currently scarce data needed for robust and cost-effective designs of DH pipe systems.