Pipeline Jacketing Formwork for Rockfall and Landslide Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing protective structures for pipelines at river and ravine crossings are not entirely secure against damage from rock falls and landslides, and incur high installation and maintenance costs.
Innovation Solution
A formwork envelope made of woven fabric layers with interwoven cords and cables, wrapped around a pipeline and filled with a curable material to form a reinforced circumferential jacket, providing protection against environmental damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If frames with backfill materials are used to protect the pipeline, then some reinforced protection is provided, but the protection is not entirely secure and incurs high installation and maintenance costs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a flexible fabric formwork envelope that wraps around the pipeline to provide protection. This flexible shell approach replaces the rigid frame structure with a more adaptable and cost-effective solution that can conform to the pipeline geometry while providing equivalent or superior protection against rock falls and landslides.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a composite structure combining the fabric formwork envelope with flowable curable material (such as concrete or grout) to create a reinforced protective covering. This composite material system provides both the flexibility of the fabric and the strength of the cured material, achieving reliable protection without the complexity of traditional frame structures.
2Reliability
If frames are placed above and around the pipeline to shield it, then reinforced protection is provided proximate the ground entrance, but the portions of the pipeline longitudinally outward of the frame remain unprotected
Solution Approach 1:
The fabric formwork envelope provides universal protection along the entire length of the pipeline exposure, not just at specific locations. The continuous wrapping structure ensures that all portions of the pipeline, including those longitudinally outward of traditional frames, are protected against environmental damage from rock falls and landslides.
3Reliability
If traditional protective frames are used, then some protection is provided, but they incur high installation and maintenance costs
Solution Approach 1:
The fabric formwork envelope represents a more economical protective solution compared to traditional frames. The flexible fabric structure is generally less expensive to manufacture and install, and while it may require periodic replacement, the overall lifecycle cost is reduced compared to maintaining complex frame structures with backfill materials.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the fundamental parameters of the protective structure by transitioning from rigid metal or wooden frames to a flexible fabric-based system. This parameter change in material properties and structural configuration leads to reduced installation and maintenance costs while maintaining or improving protection effectiveness.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution effectively shields pipelines from rock falls and landslides by forming a durable, cost-effective circumferential jacket that resists environmental damage.
Implementation Method 1
fluidal curable material received in situ into the envelope for curing the formwork as a circumferential jacketing surround of the pipeline
Data Source
Figure 1~1A
Figure 1B
Figure 1C~2
AI summary
A formwork for a circumferential jacketing surround of a pipe with an envelope having opposing top and bottom layers (12, 14) interconnected by opposing end panels and opposing first and second side edges (16, 18) defining open ends configured with opposing mating connectors (22) for joining the first side and the second side edges together for receiving in situ a curable material (46) for a circumferential jacketing surround of the pipe, with interior linkages for holding the top and bottom layer in spaced-apart relation upon filling the envelope therewith, and further comprising longitudinal and transverse cables (40, 42) therein for reinforcement of the protective surround cover. A method for jacketing a pipeline with a circumferential reinforced surround and a method for forming a jacketing surround for a pipeline are disclosed.