This study reported a simulation approach to the understanding of the
interactions between a buried pipe and the soil system by computing the
bending stress variation of harmonically-excited buried pipes. The
established principles of linear dynamics theory and simple beam theory were
utilised in the analysis of the problem of buried pipe bending stress
accumulation and its dynamics. With regards to the parameters that influence
the bending stress variations, the most important are the isolation factor,
uniform external load, and the corresponding limiting conditions. The
simulated mathematical expressions, containing static and dynamic parameters
of the buried pipe and earth, were coded in Fortran programming language and
applied in the simulation experiment. The results obtained showed that
harmonically-excited buried thick-walled pipe became stable and effective
when the ratio of the natural frequency of vibration to the forced frequency
is greater than 2.0, whenever the damped factor is used as the control
parameter for the maximum bending stress. The mirror image of the stress
variation produces variation in the location of the maximum bending stress in
quantitative terms. The acceptable pipe materials for the simulated cases
must have yield strength in bending greater than or equal to 13.95 MPa. The
results obtained in this work fill a gap in the literature and will be useful
to pipeline engineers and designers, as well as to environmental scientists
in initialising and controlling environmental issues and policy formulation
concerning the influence of buried pipe on the soil and water in the
environment.