PEPIPE DESIGN FOR

Non-Pressure Gravity Lines1

Polyethylene Pipe

1
With no Internal Pressure

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Since 1960s Polyethylene (PE) pipes have been in existence in the World. PE
pipes were first introduced in India in 1970. Thus we have over 30 years of PE
pipe usage experience in the country. Also, in 1978 PE pipes were laid for
domestic gas distribution in the city of Vadodara (then Baroda). Hence, one can
say with confidence that for more than 25years the PE pipe survived different
conditions of usage – leaky sewers, indiscriminate digging, rats and rodents,
damages and quick service restoration, internal pressure and load bearing tests.

Internationally the Plastic pipes are designated by SDR – which is the ratio of
diameter to wall thickness.

OD
SDR = ---------------
tmin

The wall thickness and weight chart for various diameters are given in IS 4984,
for which one can calculate the SDR for various PN ratings

Properties of PE PIPE pipes relevant to Underground Sewerage:

PE PIPE is totally unbreakable – even under laboratory-induced conditions.

In normal crown loading test PE

PIPE does not fracture. Under
increasing crushing load it
deforms to such an extent that
the pipe walls touch each other.
Yet, no stress crack forms.

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PE PIPE is corrosion free and resistant to the chemicals that are found in the
soil. The chemical resistance chart shows that the pipe is resistant all acids and
alkalis and is the preferred material for Industrial effluents also.

Buried PE pipe Installations

Polyethylene is a thermo plastic material that when extruded produces a pipe of

flexible nature and to which the principles of flexible pipe design must be applied.

Rigid Vs Flexible pipe behavior under load

For buried non-pressure pipes, the requisite wall thickness must be established
in accordance with external stress conditions caused by earth load and traffic

For rigid pipes such as concrete etc, the pipe alone has to take the main vertical
forces acting on the pipe, while flexible PE PIPE makes use of the horizontally
acting soil support accumulating as a result of the deflection of the pipe.

An easy way to understand the importance of soil support can be depicted by the
following formula

qv Where
/Dm = ------------------- ---- (1) SR = ( EI/D3) - -------- (2)
SR+ SS And
SS = secant Modulus of Soil
qv = load on Pipe

Given the soil stiffness – depending on (a) compaction and (b) soil type
( E modulus of soil) , the recommended stiffness factor for an allowable
deflection of the pipe can thus calculated.

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For PE PIPE, it is recommended that the allowable deformation (/Dm )should not
exceed 5% ( though in European literature a 8% deformation is acceptable).

Load calculations of Truck load over Plastic Pipe

The total load on buried pipe is thus:

qv =  . H + . Pv ---------- (3)
Where
 = Back fill Density ( 18- 20 kN/m3)
H = Cover Depth (min 0.8 mtrs)
 = Impact factor ( 1.5 for a 12Tonner)
Pv = Area Traffic Load

(Literature existing on flexible pipe design has been extensively used in these
calculations.)

The influence of traffic load is calculated by the pressure distribution according to

equations familiar to civil engineers. The dynamic load of the traffic is converted
to static load by a multiplying factor – impact factor ( ) .
For a 12-tonner truck, as per German standard the impact factor is 1.5( H= 0.8 to
1.0 mtrs). This impact factor decreases with the height of the fill. It becomes zero
at 6-mtr depth. (In the calculations given below this decrease in the load is
ignored for want of verifiable data)

German specifications of load calculations show the large trailer trucks prevalent
in Europe have a traffic load of 50 kN/m 2 ( kPa) including the impact factor of 1.5
at a fill height of 0.8 to 1.0 mtr

Hence, with a soil density of 18 – 20 kN/m 3 the total load on the pipe with
minimum cover of 0.8 mtrs can be calculated thus:

qv = 0.8 X 20 + 50 = 66 kN/m2

The theoretical deflection caused by the loads can be simplified by the Molin’s
eqnsA

0.1 Where
A
Sources for= Formulae:
Deflection qv * ----------------------- ---------- ( 4) SR = ( EI/D3) - -------- (2)
16 SR + 0.080 SS And
1. Abwassertechnischen Vereingung( ATV), Germany SS = secant Modulus of
2. Papers by Molin J and Sprangler M G Soil

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 The commonly used standard gravity pipes in Europe have an S R of 4 to 8 kPa .
For extremely weak soil conditions like loose clay SS = 8 kPa , a pipe having an
SR of 16 is used.

Note: Stiffness Factor is designated by the Stiffness in kPa

TYPICAL TRENCH DIMENSIONS

D + 300M

Min 150mm
800 to Compacted
1000mm

Dug soil
can be used
- Sharp
Stone free

FOLLOWING CALCULATIONS GIVES THE DEFLECTION FOR VARIOUS

SDRs AND STIFFNESS FACTORSA WITH A 12 TONNER TRUCK LOAD AT
VARIOUS DEPTHSB

A
Pl note that these calculations are only for gravity lines, with no internal pressure. With Internal
pressure the deformation reduces considerably

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 PN rating PN 2.5 PN 4 PN 6 PN 6 PN 8 PN 10 PN 12.5 PN 16
Matl Grade PE 63 PE 63 PE 100 PE80 PE 100 PE 100 PE 100 PE 100
SDR 33 21 22 17.6 16.7 13.6 11 9
SR 2 7 6 12 14 27 50 91
Height of Fill
Deflection %
Mtrs
0.8 4.13 2.75 2.95 2.06 1.88 1.18 0.71 0.42
1.0 4.38 2.92 3.13 2.19 1.99 1.25 0.75 0.44
1.2 4.63 3.08 3.30 2.31 2.10 1.32 0.80 0.47
1.5 5.00 3.33 3.57 2.50 2.27 1.43 0.86 0.51
1.8 5.38 3.58 3.84 2.69 2.44 1.54 0.93 0.54
2.0 5.63 3.75 4.02 2.81 2.56 1.61 0.97 0.57
2.2 5.88 3.92 4.20 2.94 2.67 1.68 1.01 0.59
BASE:
Soil density 20 kN/m3
E - Soil Modulus 1600 kN/m2
Truck Load 50 kN/m2
ES for PE Pipe 800 MPa

The following factors are to be added to the above to get the likely deflection,
under site conditions.

FACTOR Compacted Non- compacted

Bedding Factor 3% 1%

-END-

Bibliography

B
THE TRUCK LOAD REDUCES WITH DEPTH OF COVER, WHICH IS NOT TAKEN INTO
CONSIDERATION

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1. EN 14281 - Plastic Piping Systems buried ducting – Polyethylene( PE)
– specifications for pipes, fittings and the piping system
2. ISO 9969 Thermoplastic Pipes – Determination of ring stiffness
3. Lars-Eric Janson and Jan Molin “ Design and Installation of buried Plastic
Pipes
4. Conference Proceedings of Plastics Pipes XI - Munich, Germany
Sept 2002
5. Hoechst Plastics – Pipes brochure of Hoechst Ag, Frankfurt am Main ,
Germany

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