IIE Lunchtime Seminar - Dr Prodromos N. Psarropoulos (National Technical University, Athens)

Geohazards and Geotechnics in Pipeline Engineering

Abstract: 

Τhe increasing needs for energy worldwide will undoubtedly lead to the discovery and exploitation of many deposits of hydro-carbons (i.e. oil and gas), either onshore or offshore. Moreover, since many cities in the developing world are rapidly expanding, there exists an increased demand for water consumption. As a result, many onshore and offshore pipeline projects are expected to be designed and constructed during the next decades for the smooth transmission of oil, gas and/or water.

Any pipeline has to be verified against all potential hazards and the consequent loading depending on the circumstances and the local site conditions. One of the main categories of hazards that may cause substantial pipeline distress (and damage) is the ground deformations caused by the potential geohazards, such as slope instabilities, differential ground settlements, etc. Nevertheless, in areas characterized by moderate or high seismicity the design of a pipeline may be a more challenging and demanding task since the integrity of the pipeline under consideration is directly related to the earthquake-related geohazards and the seismic vulnerability of the pipeline. The term "earthquake-related geohazards" is used to describe various geological/geotechnical phenomena apart from strong ground motion, such as active-fault rupture propagation, earthquake-triggered slope instabilities, and soil-liquefaction phenomena (i.e. settlements or lateral spreading).

Therefore, the main emphasis of this presentation is on the seismic design of onshore or offshore pipelines which actually includes (a) the assessment of all earthquake-related geohazards and (b) the realistic estimation of the seismic pipeline distress. The first part of the presentation is devoted on the qualitative and quantitative assessment of the main earthquake-related geohazards onshore and/or offshore, while in the second part the main issues related to the seismic response and vulnerability of pipelines will be presented through case histories and case studies of soil-pipeline interaction.  

Bio: Dr. Psarropoulos is a Structural and Geotechnical Engineer with experience in the analysis and design of various structures and geostructures. After his Ph.D. in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering from National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), he conducted research in various institutes in Greece and Italy, while he has been an adjunct Associate Professor of Geophysics and Earthquake Engineering in the Department of Infrastructure Engineering of the Hellenic Air-Force Academy. In parallel, he has been involved (as a consultant engineer) in the design and construction of various challenging engineering projects in Greece and abroad. His expertise is on Geotechnics, Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, including mainly: (a) problems of static and dynamic soil-structure interaction (such as foundations, retaining structures, pipelines, etc.), (b) static and seismic stability assessment of slopes and embankments, and (c) numerical simulation of dynamic soil response (i.e. local site effects and microzonation studies). Currently, he is teaching graduate and post-graduate courses of "Soil Mechanics & Foundations", "Geotechnical Engineering" and "Design of Offshore Structures" at NTUA, while he has been a lead member of the team of experts for the quantitative geohazard assessment and the seismic design of two major high-pressure gas pipelines in south-east Europe (IGI-Poseidon and TAP)

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