Prestressed Concrete Cylinder Pipes (PCCP) form the backbone of water and wastewater infrastructure networks in North America. Failure of buried PCCP is a common occurrence due to structural deterioration or manufacturing defects. To mitigate the serious effects of such failures, owners and operators of these networks use risk curves to predict the failure of PCCP when given a certain level of deterioration by field inspectors. The current problem lies in the fact that asset management using such risk curves lacks accuracy and requires costly and time-consuming field inspections. A solution is presented in this study that bypasses the need for such risk curves by using computational modeling in conjunction with flow measurement devices installed inside pipe networks. The three-dimensional computational model uses nonlinear finite elements to simulate the behavior of buried PCCP under combined internal and external loading. The method is validated using experimental test results of full-scale PCCP specimens. Comparison of several key structural health indicators shows close agreement of the developed model with experimental results. The study demonstrates that the developed approach can predict with relative accuracy and time efficiency the deterioration levels of different pipe segments under realistic loading conditions. This approach eliminates the need for risk curves that require time consuming and costly field inspections, and allows for more effective asset management through on-time maintenance and replacement of such important infrastructure facilities by their public and private owners.

中文翻译：

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使用数值建模进行埋地预应力混凝土圆柱管资产管理

预应力混凝土圆柱管 (PCCP) 是北美供水和污水基础设施网络的支柱。由于结构劣化或制造缺陷，埋入式 PCCP 失效是很常见的。为了减轻此类故障的严重影响，这些网络的所有者和运营商使用风险曲线来预测当现场检查员给出一定程度的恶化时 PCCP 的故障。当前的问题在于，使用此类风险曲线的资产管理缺乏准确性，并且需要进行昂贵且耗时的现场检查。本研究中提出了一种解决方案，该解决方案通过将计算建模与安装在管网内的流量测量设备结合使用，绕过了对此类风险曲线的需求。三维计算模型使用非线性有限元来模拟埋地 PCCP 在内部和外部联合载荷下的行为。使用全尺寸 PCCP 样品的实验测试结果验证了该方法。几个关键结构健康指标的比较表明，开发的模型与实验结果非常吻合。研究表明，所开发的方法可以相对准确地和时间效率地预测实际负载条件下不同管段的劣化水平。这种方法消除了对需要耗时且昂贵的现场检查的风险曲线的需求，并允许通过由公共和私人所有者按时维护和更换此类重要基础设施来更有效地管理资产。