Geological and topographical challenges in fault zones pose significant risks to the structural integrity of buried pipelines. Previous studies have shown that continuously buried pipelines using loose sand as backfill material experience severe damage under active fault displacement. This study proposes the use of super-absorbent- polymer concrete (SAPC) as an alternative trench backfill to mitigate structural damage in buried pipelines subjected to reverse fault movement, as opposed to conventional backfill with loose sand. This study begins with the preparation of lightweight porous concrete containing large super-absorbent-polymer aggregates, followed by mechanical property testing to establish a constitutive model of SAPC. The SAPC is then employed to backfill the trench of a fault-crossing pipeline. A finite element model is developed to analyze the pipeline-SAPC trench- soil interaction and evaluate the performance of the pipeline when the trench is backfilled with SAPC. Critical parameters such as SAPC backfill length, overlying thickness, and elastic modulus are also examined for their effects on the performance of a buried pipeline. The numerical results indicate that compared with conventional backfill with loose sand, the critical reverse fault displacement of the pipeline can generally be increased by over 100 % after using SAPC as the backfill material. Optimal pipeline performance is observed when the SAPC backfill length is approximately 60 times the pipeline diameter. Besides, a thinner overlying SAPC thickness will generally enhance the performance of buried steel pipelines under reverse fault movement. Additionally, by adjusting the sand-cement ratio and SAP volume fraction, a SAPC with a higher elastic modulus can slightly improve the performance of the fault-crossing pipeline.

To ensure the seismic safety of important buildings and infrastructure facilities in seismically active areas, it is necessary that, in addition to the various ground motion parameters, the seismic hazard is also characterized in terms of many other destructive natural effects of earthquakes like soil liquefaction and permanent fault displacement for example. The probabilistic seismic hazard analysis methodology can in principle be applied to quantify any of the destructive effects of the earthquakes in a region, provided a formulation has been developed to compute the probability with which a specified level of that effect can be exceeded at a site of interest due to given earthquake magnitude and location. Several investigators have developed necessary relationships and methodologies to estimate this probability for the permanent fault displacement, which may be a potential and primary cause of damage to long structures like bridges, tunnels, pipelines, dams and buried structures, if an active fault happens to cross or pass by such a structure. Based on a comprehensive literature survey and critical analysis of the results obtained for various possible alternatives, we have finalized a methodology for probabilistic fault displacement hazard analysis suitable for a 257 km long strand of the main boundary thrust (MBT) in the Garhwal-Kumaon Himalaya. Formulations are proposed for estimation of both the on-fault principal displacement and the off-fault distributed displacement, which can also be applied to any other thrust fault in any other segment of the Himalaya. The application of the proposed methodology to obtain the on-fault displacement estimates for a site at the midpoint of the selected strand of the MBT is found to provide physically realistic displacement values for very long return periods of upto 100,000 years. The off-fault displacements are found to decrease very fast with distance from the site on MBT and become practically insignificant at a distance of only two km.

Tunnels subjected to reverse fault dislocation undergo severe structural damage, and their mechanical response and failure characteristics play a key role in seismic fortification efforts. This paper investigates the mechanical responses and failure characteristics exhibited by tunnels subjected to reverse faulting using theoretical analysis and numerical simulations. A theoretical model is established for analysing the bending moment, shear force, and safety factor of the tunnels under reverse fault dislocation. The nonuniform fault displacement, fault zone width, and nonlinear soil-tunnel interaction is applied in the proposed theoretical model, significantly improving the analysis accuracy and range of applicability. The corresponding numerical simulation based on the XFEM (extended finite element method) is carried out, and the proposed theoretical model is verified by the numerical results. The theoretical results demonstrate excellent agreement with the numerical results when nonuniform fault displacement is considered. A parametric analysis is presented in which the effects of the maximum fault displacement, fault zone width, and ratio of the maximum fault displacement of the footwall to the hanging wall are investigated. The results show that the ultimate fault displacement for compression-bending failure of the tunnel subjected to reverse fault dislocation is estimated to be approximately 30 cm, while the ultimate displacement for shear failure stands at 20 cm. Variations in the fault displacement ratio yield alterations in the distribution pattern and peak values of internal forces, together with shifts in the potential failure ranges of the footwall and hanging wall. Additionally, an initial crack emerged on the tunnel crown near the fault plane, followed by a second crack on the tunnel invert. Upon reaching a fault displacement of approximately 40 cm, the crack fully traverses the entire tunnel lining.