Tensile tests at various strain rates were conducted on polyethylene(PE) specimens. The rate dependent constitutive model was applied to characterize the tensile properties of PE and the fitting material parameters of the PE were obtained. Based on the selected constitutive model and the obtained material parameters, Abaqus large scale finite element platform was used to simulate the mechanical response of buried PE pipeline under foundation settlement. Then, the variation of pipe stress with settlement displacement was analyzed and the relationship between transition length and PE pipeline yielding condition was discussed. The results show that the maximum Mises stress of PE pipelines increase with the increase of settlement displacement. The dangerous section occurs at the junction of the transition section and the settlement zone, or at the junction of the transition section and the non settling zone. According to the yield failure criteria, the maximum safe service settlement displacement of PE pipelines was discussed. It is found that with the increase of transition length, the settlement displacement of yielding pipelines increases. In other words, given the same settlement displacement, the buried pipeline with longer transition section is safer.