A new family of hybrid-segmented pipes is emerging into the international market which allow the joints to displace axially and deflect a prescribed quantity before locking up and restraining further movement. These pipe systems are mainly targeting improvement to earthquake-induced ground deformations, but also apply to other types of ground-induced strain such as landslides, flooding-induced scour, and differential subsidence. As the segmented pipe joints lock up in response to ground movement, the system behaves similar to a continuous pipe along the regions where ground movement is sufficient to engage the locking mechanisms. Other than employing finite element modeling, there is no methodology allowing engineers to evaluate the stresses and strains that develop along segmented pipes consistently with those of continuous pipes at equivalent levels of potential ground movement. This paper presents an evaluation methodology based on a single set of equations that allow continuous and segmented pipes, of any defined material, to be evaluated consistently for block ground deformations moving parallel to the longitudinal pipe axis.
