A 3-Dimensional Continuum ALE Model for Ice Scour: Study of Trench Effects

A new Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian (ALE) Finite Element (FE) model of ice scour was recently developed by the authors. It is based on continuum representation of the soil. It was shown in recent papers that such a model can characterize the mechanics of the ice-soil-pipeline interaction without requiring any of the assumptions that the Winkler models depend on. The model utilizes soil properties obtained by conventional laboratory testing. In a recent paper, this model was used to show that the subscour deformations and ice-soil interaction forces are very sensitive to ice ridge geometries for shallow slope ice features. In this paper, the ALE FE ice scour model is utilized to study the effects of the pipeline trench on the scour process and the forces transmitted to the pipeline. Two different infill soil properties and two different ice ridge geometries are analyzed with a 36 inch diameter pipe buried to in a trench of 1.5 m cover. It is shown that the scour process near and in the trench is significantly different than in the ambient seabed soils and the recognition of this may present some potential advantages for the protection of the pipelines not recognized by the Winkler models. It is also shown that the pipeline loads generated during the scour process are cyclic. They build slowly as the ice moves over the trench and then reverse as the ice ridge moves away from the trench. This is in contrast to monotonic and rapidly growing loads predicted by the Winkler models. The paper shows that the loads transferred to the pipeline depend on the infill soil properties placed in the trench. It is shown that loads experienced by the pipeline are less for the softer infill than stiffer soils.