Ground displacement is considered the major natural hazard in causing damage to pipelines. Although the most effective method to reduce pipeline damage is routing the pipelines away from the ground movement potential areas, the pipelines in Taiwan unavoidably pass through faults, soil liquefaction potential areas, and sensitive areas of landslides, given that thirty-six active faults are crossing the island. Currently, available researches show that quasi-static testing is utilized to study the pipeline behavior under fault displacement. This paper presents laboratory testing design and results of buried pipelines subjected to ground displacement due to seismic motion. Pipelines are buried in a uniaxial shear box which is designed to introduce fault displacement caused by seismic motion. Different pipeline diameters are tested for comparison to study the diameter effect of pipelines. Protection measures such as different backfill materials and various burial depths are also tested to possibly offer suggestions on pipeline damage mitigation methods. The dynamic behavior of the pipelines is presented by the measurements collected by the strain gauges and accelerometers located on the pipelines. This study provides valuable information on the dynamic behavior of buried pipelines subjected to ground displacement due to seismic motion, which can enhance the design of the pipeline systems for seismic damage mitigation.
