The present work deals with the constraint effect of soil(soil backfill) on a highly pressurised buried pipe interested by ductile fracture propagation on its upper generatrix. The study of this effect is important to make a realistic simulation of the pipe behaviour with the aim to obtain reliable predictions in terms of crack arrest capability of a gas transportation line. The backfill model is based on a simple package of soil elements having concentrated mass and stiffness. Some experimental evidences are used to check the basic assumptions and to establish the degree of accuracy of results.
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