Upheaval Buckling Calculator v1

Subject

Upheaval buckling is the term used to describe lateral ‘upwards’ displacement of a pipeline, and the axial compression that causes it is usually generated by increased temperature and/or pressure in a pipeline with both its ends physically locked.

Upheaval buckling may be a serious problem for pipelines where vortex shedding and/or snagging are considered to be potential hazards during their design life. In order to prevent such hazards, one may dig a sufficiently deep trench and/or cover the pipeline with material (overburden) heavy enough to contain the axial growth, i.e. prevent it being converted into lateral displacement.

Whilst most pipeline design codes and specifications insist that this phenomenon be considered in the design process, they do not usually tell you how to do it and those that do normally provide approximation formulas, which is a pity because the calculation is quite complex and requires the application of specialist flexible (large deflection) beam theory to get it right. Upheaval Buckling does this for you. All you have to do is decide where to apply it.

Calculator

Upheaval Buckling calculates the maximum expected lateral displacement in a pipeline under axial compression, along with the minimum burial depth required to prevent it.

The upheaval buckling calculator also calculates the amount of material required to prevent axial growth occurring as a result of frictional resistance between the burial material and the pipeline cover. This information is provided for interest only as the depth of burial material required to contain such growth is usually impractically high.

For help using this calculator see Technical Help

Upheaval Buckling includes a data import facility from CalQlata's Pipe calculator

Check minimum system requirements