Optimizing perforations in buried high density

polyethylene pipes for drainage applications

2015 CSBE/SCGAB Annual International Meeting
Edmonton, Alberta

N. Gaj and C.A. Madramootoo

Dept. of Bioresource Engineering
6th July, 2015

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Background to problem
Evolution of subsurface drainage applications.
materials moved in tandem with
advances in engineering materials. Economically feasible, easy
handling and installation.
Clay tiles HDPE tubing
HDPE pipes first produced in
Germany in 1955 and has been
used in many engineering

Dams Highways

Farms Leachate 2
Background to problem
Design considerations fall into two broad categories

Hydraulic Design

Primary function Drain depth, spacing,

- Drainage diameter, perforations

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Background to problem
Ideally, design of perforations
should be based on both
hydraulic and structural aspects.
Optimum number of perforations
based on amalgamating
Size, Shapehydraulic
and
and structural Spatial
designLocation
criteria.

Knowledge gap exists for

specifying guidelines on AASHTO,
perforating buried drain pipes. ASTM, USACE,
NRCS, USBR

Coupled
hydrodynamic and
geotechnical
modelling

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Research Objectives
1) Develop a coupled hydrodynamic and geotechnical model
capable of simulating groundwater flow to perforated HDPE
drainpipes.

2) Calibrate and validate the coupled model through physical

modelling experiments.

3) Develop guidelines for perforating HDPE pipes for drainage

applications.

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Proposed Methodology

COMPUTATIONAL
MODELLING SIMULATION

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Proposed Methodology
COMPUTATIONAL MODELLING

COMSOL Multiphysics®
Subsurface Flow module coupled
with Geomechanics module

Comparison with analytical solutions

(Hazenberg and Panu, 1991)
(Brachman and Krushelnitzky, 2002)

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Proposed Methodology
PHYSICAL MODELLING EXPERIMENTS

Sand tank model

 pore pressure
 flow rate
 pipe deformation
 stain at perforations

Lab testing of soil properties

 hydraulic conductivity
 particle size
 density, specific gravity
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Proposed Methodology
MODEL SIMULATIONS

Optimize parameters for

perforations on HDPE pipes.
 size
 shape
 circumferential location
 axial spacing

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Preliminary Results
Analytical Solution vs. COMSOL – completely porous case
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Analytical
Solution
20 Normal mesh -
Discharge (cm3 s-1 )

1853 elements
Fine mesh -
15 2797 elements
Coarse mesh -
781 elements
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0
0 5 10 15 20 25
Drain pipe radius (cm)

Constant potential Ø =15 m at cylindrical surface R2 = 40 cm

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Summary

 A knowledge gap currently exists for specifying design

guidelines such as the size, shape, and pattern of perforations
for buried pipes.
 Further research is needed to fill this gap by amalgamating the
hydraulic and structural design criteria of buried pipes
 This could be achieved through further research with coupled
geotechnical and hydrodynamic computational models

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Thank You!
Questions?

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