Numerical Study of Buried Pipelines Backfilled with Controlled Low-Strength Material Crossing Strike-Slip Fault

Geological damage, such as fault displacement, soil liquefaction, and landslide, to embedded lifeline systems is significant among all the natural hazard types. As the ductile iron pipe is widely used in Taiwan's clean water service system, and the pipe trench is backfilled with controlled low-strength material in recent years, this study aims to analyze the behavior of the buried ductile iron pipe subjected to a strike-slip fault crossing with the pipe trench backfilled with controlled low-strength material. The stress induced by the ground movement is distributed not only on the pipe but also on the pipe trench, which offers higher strength than the conventional materials such as sand and clay. The results of this study offer valuable information on the pipeline behavior and are useful for the installation design and hazard mitigation of the ductile iron pipeline system.