Catalog No.

L51927

Guidelines for the Seismic Design and Assessment of Natural

Gas and Liquid Hydrocarbon Pipelines

Contract PR-268-9823
Prepared for the

Pipeline Design, Construction & Operations Technical Committee

of

Pipeline Research Council International, Inc.

Prepared by the following Research Agencies:

D.G. Honegger Consulting

D.J. Nyman and Associates
Authors:

Douglas G. Honegger
Douglas J. Nyman

Publication Date:

October 1, 2004

GUIDELINES FOR THE SEISMIC DESIGN

AND ASSESSMENT OF NATURAL GAS AND
LIQUID HYDROCARBON PIPELINES

PART I

GUIDELINES AND
RECOMMENDED PROCEDURES

PR-268-9823

Table of Contents
1.0

GENERAL PROVISIONS .................................................................................. 1-1

1.1

Application ...................................................................................................1-1

1.2

Process ..........................................................................................................1-1

1.3

Alternate Procedures.....................................................................................1-3

1.4

Required Information....................................................................................1-3
1.4.1 Pipe Information..................................................................................1-3
1.4.2 Soil Information ..................................................................................1-4
1.4.3 Seismic Hazard Definition..................................................................1-4

2.0

1.5

Acronyms......................................................................................................1-4

1.6

Nomenclature................................................................................................1-5

1.7

References...................................................................................................1-10

1.8

Units............................................................................................................ 1- 11

QUANTIFYING SEISMIC HAZARDS............................................................. 2-1

2.1

Surface Faulting............................................................................................2-1
2.1.1 Empirical Methods for Estimating Fault Displacements ....................2-2
2.1.2 Orthogonal Displacement Components ..............................................2-3
2.1.3 Design Fault Displacements................................................................2-4

2.2

Peak Ground Acceleration............................................................................2-6

2.2.1 Near Source Earthquakes in the Western United States .....................2-7
2.2.2 Cascadia Earthquakes..........................................................................2-8

2.3

Liquefaction..................................................................................................2-9
2.3.1 Assessing Liquefaction Potential ........................................................2-9
2.3.2 Displacements Associated with Relative Buoyancy.........................2-13
2.3.3 Displacements Related to Liquefaction-Induced Settlement ............2-14

3.0

2.4

Lateral Spread Movement...........................................................................2-14

2.5

Landslides ...................................................................................................2-16

2.6

Seismic Wave Propagation.........................................................................2-18

2.7

Transient Ground Deformation...................................................................2-19

PIPELINE PERFORMANCE CRITERIA........................................................ 3-1

3.1

New Pipelines and Pipelines Compatible with

Modern Construction Practices.....................................................................3-2
3.1.1 Performance Goal: Maintain Pressure Integrity.................................3-2

PR-268-9823

3.1.2 Performance Goal: Maintain Normal Operability..............................3-3

3.1.3 Load-Controlled Conditions ................................................................3-4

4.0

3.2

Considerations for Offshore Pipelines ..........................................................3-5

3.3

Pipelines Not Compatible with Current Construction Practices...................3-6

PIPELINE ANALYSIS PROCEDURES ........................................................... 4-1

4.1

Pipe Element Definition ...............................................................................4-1

4.2

Pipe Stress-Strain Definition ........................................................................4-1

4.3

Soil Spring Definition...................................................................................4-2

4.3.1 Axial Soil Springs ...............................................................................4-2
4.3.2 Lateral Soil Springs .............................................................................4-3
4.3.3 Vertical Uplift Soil Springs.................................................................4-4
4.3.4 Vertical Bearing Soil Springs..............................................................4-5

4.4 Extent of Pipeline Model..................................................................................4-5

5.0

4.5

Representation of Applied Ground Movement .............................................4-6

4.6

Sensitivity Analyses......................................................................................4-6

MITIGATION OPTIONS ................................................................................... 5-1

5.1

Modifying Pipeline Loading Conditions ......................................................5-1

5.1.1 Reducing Soil Loads by Minimizing Soil Strength Properties ...........5-1
5.1.2 Unanchored Length.............................................................................5-4
5.1.3 Isolating Pipelines from Ground Displacement ..................................5-4

5.2

Modify Pipeline Configuration.....................................................................5-4

5.3

Modify Emergency Response Procedures ....................................................5-5

APPENDIX A: Considerations for Establishing Performance Goals

APPENDIX B: Seismic Design Provisions in Existing Standards
APPENDIX C: Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis
APPENDIX D: Example Calculations
APPENDIX E: Guideline Reviewers

PR-268-9823

GUIDELINES FOR THE SEISMIC DESIGN

AND ASSESSMENT OF NATURAL GAS AND
LIQUID HYDROCARBON PIPELINES

PART II
COMMENTARY

PR-268-9823

Table of Contents
C1.0 GENERAL PROVISIONS ............................................................................... C1-1
C1.1 Application ................................................................................................ C1-1
C1.2 Process ....................................................................................................... C1-1
C1.3 Alternate Procedures.................................................................................. C1-3
C1.4 Required Information................................................................................. C1-3
C2.0 QUANTIFYING SEISMIC HAZARDS.......................................................... C2-1
C2.1 Surface Faulting......................................................................................... C2-1
C2.1.1 Empirical Methods for Estimating Fault Displacements ............ C2-3
C2.1.2 Orthogonal Displacement Components ...................................... C2-4
C2.1.3 Design Fault Displacements........................................................ C2-5
C2.2 Peak Ground Acceleration......................................................................... C2-7
C2.3 Liquefaction............................................................................................... C2-8
C2.3.1 Assessing Liquefaction Potential ................................................ C2-9
C2.3.2 Displacements Associated with Relative Buoyancy................. C2-10
C2.3.3 Displacements Related to Liquefaction-Induced Settlement .... C2-11
C2.4 Lateral Spread Movement ........................................................................ C2-12
C2.5 Landslides ................................................................................................ C2-13
C2.6 Seismic Wave Propagation...................................................................... C2-16
C2.7 Transient Ground Deformation................................................................ C2-18
C3.0 PIPELINE PERFORMANCE CRITERIA..................................................... C3-1
C3.1 New Pipelines and Pipelines Compatible with
Current Construction Practices .................................................................. C3-1
C3.1.1 Performance Goal: Maintain Pressure Integrity......................... C3-5
C3.1.2 Performance Goal: Maintain Normal Operability...................... C3-8
C3.1.3 Load-Controlled Conditions ........................................................ C3-9
C3.2 Considerations for Offshore Pipelines ..................................................... C3-10
C3.3 Pipelines Not Compatible with Current Construction Practices.............. C3-11
C4.0 PIPELINE ANALYSIS PROCEDURES ........................................................ C4-1
C4.1 Pipe Element Definition ............................................................................ C4-2
C4.2 Pipe Stress-Strain Definition ..................................................................... C4-3
PR-268-9823

C4.3 Soil Spring Definition................................................................................ C4-3

C4.4 Extent of Pipeline Model........................................................................... C4-5
C4.5 Representation of Applied Ground Movement .......................................... C4-5
C4.6 Sensitivity Analyses................................................................................... C4-6
C5.0 MITIGATION OPTIONS ................................................................................ C5-1
C6.0 REFERENCES .................................................................................................. C6-1

PR-268-9823