An observational analysis of seismic vulnerability of industrial pipelines

Industrial plants are complex systems that need stringent requirement for structural safety, as large amount of toxic and flammable materials are often handled and consequences of failures can affect wide surrounding areas. Prediction and prevention of possible accidental scenarios, triggered by the interaction of natural hazard such as earthquakes with industrial equipment depend upon the reliability of available tools for structural design and assessment. In this paper, attention is focussed on industrial pipelines and on damages suffered by such structures during recent earthquake sequences. Available data were classified on the basis of different correlated issues as seismological, geotechnical, structural and performance parameters, in order to assess the main factors affecting their seismic vulnerability. Results provided a preliminary correlation of pipeline performance and relevant earthquake intensity measures. Some remarks on the loss of containment, which has been largely demonstrated as the main issue for qualitative and quantitative risk assessment, in relation with relevant failure mechanisms, are also provided. Copyright © 2012, AIDIC Servizi S.r.l.