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Submarine pipelines are many a time buried into a jet-blasted channel in the seabed. Seismic response of such buried pipelines are investigated in this paper. The earthquake is considered as a partially correlated stationary random process characterized by a power spectral density function (PSDF). The cross-spectral density function between two random inputs along the length of the pipe is defined with the help of the local earthquake PSDF, which is the same for all points, and a frequency-dependent, exponentially decaying function (with distance). A lumped-mass model with 2-D beam elements is used to write the equation of motion. Soil resistance to dynamic excitation along the pipe length is obtained in an approximate manner with the help of frequency-independent impedance functions derived from half-space analysis and Mindlin’s static stresses within the soil due to point loads. The responses are obtained by a spectral analysis for horizontal ground motions in two principal directions, which are assumed to coincide with pipe axis and the perpendicular to it. Using the proposed method of analysis, a parametric study is conducted. The results of the study help in understanding the behavior of buried submarine pipelines under seismic forces and its differences from that of the buried pipelines on land.

SUMMARYA method is presented for the determination of the transverse response of the idealized suspended span of an offshore pipeline to random seismic input. The method is based on spatial discretization of the pipe with nodal lumped masses. The earthquake is assumed to be a stationary random process characterized by a power spectral density function. The cross spectral density function between two random seismic excitations along the pipe length is defined with the help of a local earthquake power special density function, which is assumed to be the same for the two end supports of the pipeline, and a frequency dependent weighted function which decays exponentially with distance from the pipe supports. The solution is obtained in the frequency domain using the spectral approach and is presented in terms of r.m.s. displacements and stresses. The formulation adequately includes the pressure drag effect which tends to dampen the pipe motions. Utilizing this method of analysis, several idealized pipe sea bed configurations, in which the pipe is anchored between two end blocks and subjected to horizontal ground excitations normal to the pipe axis, have been analysed to predict the influence of certain important parameters on the response.

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