A method is presented for estimating the maximum bending moment for continuous ͑or rigidly jointed͒ pipelines affected by tunnel-induced ground movement. The estimation can be made based on the knowledge of tunnel and pipeline geometries, the stiffness of soil and pipeline, and tunnel-induced ground deformation at the pipeline level. The method takes account of soil nonlinearity by an equivalent linear approach, in which the stiffness of the soil is evaluated based on an average deviatoric strain developed along the pipeline. The approach is conservative and promises that the bending moment is not underestimated. The validity of the method as an upper bound approximation is evaluated against centrifuge test results.

This paper examines the effect that tunnel size, depth and volume loss have on greenfield soil displacements above tunnels in sandy ground. The results of a series of plane-strain centrifuge tests performed on tunnels in a dry silica sand are examined. The cover-to-diameter ratio, C/D, of the tunnels ranged from 1·3 to 4·4. Features of greenfield settlement trough shape, both surface and subsurface, are illustrated by examining soil displacement data obtained using an image-based deformation measurement technique. The effects of tunnel size, depth and volume loss are demonstrated, and the suitability of typical fitting curves is discussed. The complex volumetric behaviour of drained soil is illustrated by comparing tunnel volume loss with the volume loss experienced by the soil. A set of equations is developed that provide a method of evaluating the change of settlement trough shape with tunnel size, depth and volume loss.

An elastic continuum solution and a Winkler solution of the problem of tunnelling effects on existing pipelines are given. A comparison is made between an elastic continuum solution and a closed-form Winkler solution with Vesic subgrade modulus. Although applying the Vesic expression results in the same moments and displacements under external loading in a Winkler system and the elastic continuum, it is found that its use is not necessarily adequate for the problem of tunnelling effects on pipelines and may not be conservative owing to possible underestimation of bending moments. An alternative expression for the subgrade modulus is provided, resulting in similar maximum bending moments in the Winkler and elastic continuum systems.

Methane hydrate is estimated to be present in substantial amounts below deep sea floors. Particular scientific and engineering interests that encourage studies of mechanical behaviour of methane hydrate soils include submarine geohazards, such as the initiation of marine landslides through hydrate dissociation, wellbore stability and estimation of future gas production from wells. To study these problems, a formulation of a multi-physics model of methane hydrate flow coupled to soil deformation is developed. By assuming deformable porous media (soil matrix) that accommodate non-movable but dissociable hydrate, a two-phase flow formulation of water and methane gas is suggested according to Darcy's law and capillary pressure law. A single-phase elastic–perfectly plastic constitutive model for hydrate soil sediments, based on the concept of effective stress, is developed to account for the effect of hydrate saturation on mechanical strength and stiffness. The formulation is incorporated into the explicit scheme of finite-difference code FLAC by solving three boundary value problems in parallel. The code is used to simulate the behaviour of horizontal unsupported and supported wells in hydrate-bearing sediments under different in situ stress conditions during methane hydrate extraction. Axial force, bending moment and well displacements were compared for supported and unsupported wells.

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