• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.401-409
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• 2018

Performance-based seismic evaluation is usually done by considering simplified models for the liquid storage tanks therefore, it is important to validate those simplified models before conducting such evaluation. The purpose of this study is to compare the seismic response results of the FSI (fluid-structure interaction) model and the simplified models for the cylindrical liquid storage tanks and to verify the applicability of the simplified models for estimating failure probability. Seismic analyses were carried out for two types of storage tanks with different aspect ratios (H/D) of 0.45 and 0.86. FSI model represents detailed 3D fluid-structure interaction model and simplified models are modeled as cantilever mass-spring model, frame type mass-spring model and shell type mass-spring model, considering impulsive and convective components. Seismic analyses were performed with modal analysis followed by time history analysis. Analysis results from all the models were verified by comparing with the results calculated by the code and literature. The results from simplified models show good agreement with the ones from detailed FSI model and calculated results from code and literature, confirming that all three types of simplified models are very valid for conducting failure probability analysis of the cylindrical liquid storage tanks.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.759-772
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• 2010

Seismic isolation is a well-known method to mitigate the earthquake effects on structures by increasing their fundamental natural periods at the expense of larger displacements in the structural system. In this paper, the seismic response of isolated and fixed base vertical, cylindrical, liquid storage tanks is investigated using a Finite Element Model (FEM), taking into account fluid-structure interaction effects. Three vertical, cylindrical tanks with different ratios of height to radius (H/R = 2.6, 1.0 and 0.3) are numerically analyzed and the results of response-history analysis, including base shear, overturning moment and free surface displacement are reported for isolated and non-isolated tanks. Isolated tanks equipped by lead rubber bearings isolators and the bearing are modeled by using a non-linear spring in FEM model. It is observed that the seismic isolation of liquid storage tanks is quite effective and the response of isolated tanks is significantly influenced by the system parameters such as their fundamental frequencies and the aspect ratio of the tanks. However, the base isolation does not significantly affect the surface wave height and even it can causes adverse effects on the free surface sloshing motion.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.69-75
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• 1998

Because the collapse of liquid-storage tank structures under earthquakes brings out substantially more damages by indirect effects(continuous losses of economy and environmental disruption due to the spillage of toxic contents or pollutants) than direct economic losses of tanks and contents, it is an urgent matter to provide earthquake resistant design criteria in order to minimize such direct/indirect damages. In this paper, as fundamental works to prepare earthquake resistant design criteria for cylindrical liquid-storage tanks, analysis methods given in the Recommendations of New Zealand and Austria are reviewed and the applicabilities and problems of the two methods are set forth by comparison of the analysis results with a numerical example.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2000.04a
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• pp.602-607
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• 2000

Fuel-storage tank is a representative example of liquid-structure interaction systems. In order to prevent the undesired structural failure by a variety of external loads, the reliable analysis of the dynamic response of such structural system is of a great importance. In this paper, we address the analytical study on free vibration of axisymmetric cylindrical fuel-storage tanks together with the parametric investigation of eigen-characteristics with respect to the relative fuel fill-height and the relative tank height. Numerical results illustrating theoretical results are also included.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.533-543
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• 2000

To prevent major cracking and failure during earthquakes, it is important to design reinforced concrete liquid storage structures, such as water and fuel storage tanks, properly for the hydrodynamic pressure loads caused by seismic excitations. There is a discussion in recent Codes that most of the base shear applied to liquid containment structures is resisted by inplane membrane shear rather than by transverse flexural shear. The purpose of this paper is to underline the importance of the membrane force system in carrying the base shear produced by hydrodynamic pressures in both rectangular and cylindrical tank structures. Only rigid tanks constrained at the base are considered. Analysis is performed for both tall and broad tanks to compare their behavior under seismic excitation. Efforts are made to quantify the percentage of base shear carried by membrane action and the consequent procedures that must be followed for safe design of liquid containing storage structures.

• International journal of steel structures
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.1167-1176
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• 2018

Steel cylindrical tanks are widely used for the storage of hazardous substances of which leakage must be prevented under any circumstances. However, the dynamic response of the steel cylindrical liquid storage tank depends sensitively on the fluid-structure interaction and the vibration of the tank structure and necessitates clarification for the safety of the tank structure. This paper presents the results of shaking table tests performed to examine the dynamic behavior of a scaled cylindrical steel tank model considering the presence or not of fixed roof and added mass at the top of the tank for various fluid levels. The test results confirm the occurrence of both beam-type and oval-type vibration modes and show that the larger content of liquid inside the container amplified the acceleration along the height of the cylindrical tank. The oval-type vibration modes are seen to be more dominant in case of large water-to-structure mass ratio.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.51-64
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• 1993

Base-isolated liquid storage tanks under seismic loading were tested by the Pseudo-dynamic test method. Substructuring technique in which a mixed integration method was adopted and the liquid tanks were simply modeled as a discrete system. This study gave experimental verification on the advantage of mounting the liquid tanks on base isolators in order to reduce the hydrodynamic forces on the tank wall.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.2147-2155
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• 2022

Nuclear safety-related underground liquid storage tanks, such as those used to store fuel for emergency diesel generators, are critical components for safety of hundreds of existing nuclear power plants (NPP) worldwide. Since most of those NPP will continue to operate for decades, a beyond design base (BDB) seismic screening of safety-related underground tanks in those NPP is beneficial and essential to public safety. The analytical methodology for buried tank subjected to seismic effect, including a BDB seismic evaluation, needs to consider both soil-structure and fluid-structure interaction effects. Comprehensive analysis of such a soil-structure-fluid system is costly and time consuming, often subjected to availability of state-of-art finite element tools. Simple, but practically and reasonably accurate techniques for seismic evaluation of underground liquid storage tanks have not been established. In this study, a mechanics based solution is proposed for the evaluation of a cylindrical underground liquid storage tank using hand calculation methods. For validation, a practical example of two underground diesel fuel tanks in an existing nuclear power plant is presented and application of the proposed method is confirmed by using published results of the computer-aided System for Analysis of Soil Structural Interaction (SASSI). The proposed approach provides an easy to use tool for BDB seismic assessment prior to making decision of applying more costly technique by owner of the nuclear facility.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.615-638
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• 2002

This paper presents a method of seismic analysis for a cylindrical liquid storage structure considering the effects of the interior fluid and exterior soil medium in the frequency domain. The horizontal and rocking motions of the structure are included in this study. The fluid motion is expressed in terms of analytical velocity potential functions, which can be obtained by solving the boundary value problem including the deformed configuration of the structure as well as the sloshing behavior of the fluid. The effect of the fluid is included in the equation of motion as the impulsive added mass and the frequency-dependent convective added mass along the nodes on the wetted boundary of the structure. The structure and the near-field soil medium are represented using the axisymmetric finite elements, while the far-field soil is modeled using dynamic infinite elements. The present method can be applied to the structure embedded in ground as well as on ground, since it models both the soil medium and the structure directly. For the purpose of verification, earthquake response analyses are performed on several cases of liquid tanks on a rigid ground and on a homogeneous elastic half-space. Comparison of the present results with those by other methods shows good agreement. Finally, an application example of a reinforced concrete tank on a horizontally layered soil with a rigid bedrock is presented to demonstrate the importance of the soil-structure interaction effects in the seismic analysis for large liquid storage tanks.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.513-528
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• 2018

A typical viable technique to decrease the seismic response of liquid storage tanks is to isolate them at the base. Base-isolation systems are an efficient and feasible solution to reduce the vulnerability of structures in high seismic risk zones. Nevertheless, when liquid storage tanks are under long-period shaking, the base-isolation systems could have different impacts. These kinds of earthquakes can damage the tanks readily. Hence, the seismic behaviour and vibration of cylindrical liquid storage tanks, subjected to earthquakes, is of paramount importance, and it is investigated in this paper. The Finite Element Method is used to evaluate seismic response in addition to the reduction of excessive liquid sloshing in the tank when subjected to the long-period ground motion. The non-linear stress-strain behaviour pertaining to polymers and rubbers is implemented while non-linear contact elements are employed to describe the 3-D surface-to-surface contact. Therefore, Nonlinear Procedures are used to investigate the fluid-structure interactions (FSI) between liquid and the tank wall while there is incompressible liquid. Part I, examines the effect of the flexibility of the isolation system and the tank aspect ratio (height to radius) on the tank wall radial displacements of the tank wall and the liquid sloshing heights. Maximum stress and base shear force for various aspect ratios and different base-isolators, which are subjected to three seismic conditions, will be discussed in Part II. It is shown that the composite-base isolator is much more effective than other isolators due to its high flexibility and strength combined. Moreover, the base isolators may decrease the maximum level pertaining to radial displacement.