Glass fiber reinforced thermosetting polymer plastic (GRP) is widely used in the construction industries due to the advantages of their superior mechanical and physical characteristics. Most of pipes are installed for long-term purposes and they should be safely installed in consideration of installation conditions because there are unexpected various terrestrial loading conditions. In this paper, we present the result of investigation for 253 days pertaining to the structural behavior of flexible pipes buried underground. From the buried test results, we predicted long-term, up to 60 years, ring deflection of GRP pipes buried underground based on the method suggested by the existing literature. It was found that the GRP flexible pipe is appropriate because 5% ring deflection limitation of 60 years could be satisfied.

Glass fiber reinforced plastic (GRP) pipes buried underground are attractive for use in harsh environments, such as for the collection and transmission of liquids which are abrasive and/or corrosive. In this paper, we present the result of investigation pertaining to the structural behavior of GRP flexible pipes buried underground. In the investigation of structural behavior such as a ring deflection, experimental and analytical studies are conducted. In addition, vertical ring deflection is measured by the field test and finite element analysis (FEA) is also conducted to simulate behavior of GRP pipe buried underground. Based on the results from the finite element analyses considering soil-pipe interaction the vertical ring deflection behavior of buried GRP pipe is predicted. In addition, analytical and experimental results are compared and discussed.