Buried pipes are used mainly for water supply and drainage besides many other applications such as pipelines for oil etc. They are manufactured from different materials in various shapes and sizes and are subjected to live loads and gravity loads. This paper deals with the experimental investigation conducted on flexible PVC pipes buried in loose and dense conditions of sand bed and subjected to surface pressures. The response of the pipes was studied with and without geogrid reinforcement. It was observed that the incorporation of geogrid reinforcement resulted in significant decrease in the crown deflection of the pipe and offered better protection to the pipe at shallow burial depths.

Key words: PVCpipe, Geogrid, Crown deflection, FEM, PLAXIS