Rahul Manda

Graduation Semester and Year

2012

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Civil Engineering

Department

Civil Engineering

First Advisor

Mohammad Najafi

Abstract

The analysis of water pipes failure data is of great importance as it has a significant impact society and the environment. These failures also have the overall impact on the financial burden on the water industry. This thesis evaluates the failure rate of Prestressed Concrete Cylinder Pipe (PCCP), which is one of the most conventional rigid pipes and are extensively used as the water and wastewater pipeline in the US and around the world. A statistical analysis of the failure rate based on the diameter size over multiple years will help in determining the performance of PCCP pipes. Also, the analysis will help the future research which will focus on failure rate at the regional level utilizing the data from regional level water utilities. A detailed survey was conducted by Center for Underground Infrastructure Research and Education (CUIRE) at UT, Arlington to gather and analyze the data received from the survey. The estimates from the analysis imply that diameter range, 24 inch to 36 inch, shows the highest number of failures followed by corrosion failure and joint failure PCCP water pipes. There is also a significant reduction in the failure rate in the years after 1987, suggesting that change may now be accelerating with the introduction of AWWA standards following the revisions of the standards, which include a number of provisions that focus on cost-effective measures to reduce the failure rate and improve the manufacturing process. These results also hold true with survey results. As per the survey results, there is substantial variability of reductions in the failure rate by diameter size and by wire class and corrosion and wire breaks are the most common causes of failure in PCCP as reported by survey respondents.

Disciplines

Civil and Environmental Engineering | Civil Engineering | Engineering

Comments

Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington

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