Concrete pipes are widely used in municipal drainage projects. Corrosion is a common issue affecting concrete pipes, causing leakage of pipes, environmental pollution, and road collapse. It is necessary to study the mechanical properties of corroded concrete pipes. To investigate in depth the influence of corrosion depths, corrosion widths, traffic loads, and cover depths, on mechanical characteristics of buried corroded concrete pipes under static traffic loads, a series of full-scale tests were carried out. Then, a three-dimensional finite element model of buried corroded concrete pipes under traffic loads is established based on ABAQUS. Results showed that the inside of the pipe wall is more vulnerable to damage than the outside. The stress and strain of a corroded pipe is significantly larger than that of an uncorroded pipeline. The corrosion has a great influence on the stress and strain of the corroded area. The maximum principal stress and circumferential strain at corroded area increase with increasing of corrosion depth. The stress and strain first increases rapidly (0–10°), and then decreases rapidly (10–45°), then finally decreases slowly (45–180°) with an increase of corrosion width. In addition, the greater cover depth or increasing traffic load causes a rapid increase in both circumferential strain and the maximum principal stress.

The high-density polyethylene (HDPE) double-wall corrugated pipe, which is a kind of flexible pipe, is widely used in municipal drainage networks. The characteristics of the surrounding soil and pipe bed, pipe cover depth, backfill compaction, type of pavement and pavement design, and traffic loads are some of the major factors that affect the stress and deformation of pipes. In this study, the ABAQUS 3D finite element model was used to analyze the influence of backfill compactness, traffic loads, diameter, and hoop stiffness on the mechanical characteristic of an HDPE pipe under traffic loads. A series of full-scale tests were carried out to verify the validity of the simulation results. For the conditions tested, the results showed the following: (1) the Von-Mises stress of the pipe was mainly determined by the earth pressure at the crown, and the stress caused by backfill compaction increased significantly but had a short duration and limited impact on the pipe; (2) traffic load alone had little influence on the mechanical behavior of the pipe: while under the action of the loose backfill in contact with the pipe, the pipes were more sensitive to the traffic load response; (3) the fluctuations in the Von-Mises stress of the pipe mainly depended on the magnitude and speed of the traffic load; (4) for pipes with a small diameter, non-compacted backfill easily caused stress concentration in the pipe, while the degree of backfill compaction had almost the same effect on the distribution of stress for pipes with different hoop stiffness.

Current research was not dedicated to investigate the mechanical behavior of a concrete drainage pipe under multiphysical coupling conditions of overburden pressure, traffic loads, groundwater, and pipe fluids. This study proposes a new numerical solution method for coupled stress, seepage, and flow fields based on a validated finite element model. The model was developed by ABAQUS and FLUENT and then solved simultaneously using the MpCCI (mesh‐based parallel‐code coupling interface) platform. Results show that the tensile stress at the springline and the radial displacement at the crown (or invert) of the bell under the effect of groundwater alone were reduced by 50.5% and 38.1%, respectively, compared to the effect of traffic load alone. Parametric analyses show that vehicle speed and fluid height have a slight impact on the pipes. The soil cover depth, wheel pressure, and gasket strength are directly proportional to the pipe stress and vertical displacement. Within the scope of their respective changes, the pipe stresses were increased by 34.4%, 36.7%, and 28.5%, and the vertical displacements were increased by 124%, 95.85%, and 87.7%. The bedding and backfill strengths are proportional to the pipe stress and inversely proportional to the vertical displacement. Within the scope of their respective changes, the pipe stresses were increased by 18.2% and 20.0%, and the vertical displacements were decreased by 11.4% and 10.4%. Sensitivity analyses show that soil cover depth has a greatest impact on the pipe, followed by traffic load.

For flexible pipelines, the influence of backfill compaction on the deformation of the pipe has always been the focus of researchers. Through the finite element software, a three‐dimensional soil model matching the exterior wall corrugation of the high‐density polyethylene pipe was skillfully established, and the “real” finite element model of pipe‐soil interaction verified the accuracy through field test. Based on the model, the strain distribution at any position of the buried HDPE pipe can be obtained. Changing the location and extent of the loose backfill, the strain and radial displacement distributions of the interior and exterior walls of the HDPE pipe under different backfill conditions when external load applied to the foundation were analyzed, and the dangerous parts of the pipe where local buckling and fracture may occur were identified. It is pointed out that when the backfill is loose, near the interface between the backfill loose region and the well‐compacted region, the maximum circumferential strain occurs frequently, the exterior wall strain is more likely to increase greatly on the region near crown or invert, the interior wall strains increase in amplitude at springline, and the location of the loose region has a greater influence on the strain of the pipe than the size of the loose area.