Abstract: Ground would settle while ground is subjected to surcharge loads. The deformation or break would happen in the walls of the pipelines in the ground due to the settlement. This paper focuses on the effects of ground surcharge on adjacent buried pipelines. A calculation model is established with the theory of Winkler elastic foundation short beam and Boussinesq basic formulas, taking into account the impact of subsoil deformation induced by ground surcharge on pipelines. The solution is derived with the finite difference method. Consequently, cases are performed under various loads, location of the load, geologic condition, pipeline depth, diameter and stiffness of pipeline as well as property of soil. Results show that: after increasing to a certain threshold, the pipeline diameter and the coefficients of foundation bed would have a relatively small impact on the pipeline maximum displacement. However, the buried pipeline deforms significantly as the burial depth decreases. As expected, the maximum displacement of pipeline decreases while the pipe stiffness increases and the location of ground surcharge loads pose large effect on buried pipelines. So it is necessary to consider the surcharge loads and make a reasonable protective measure for buried pipelines.

Key words: ground surcharge, additional stress, displacement of buried pipeline, Winkler elastic foundation short beam, finite difference method