Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Nonlinear transient response of unanchored liquid storage tanks

Book ·
OSTI ID:124601
;  [1]
  1. Univ. of California, Irvine, CA (United States). Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Commonly used seismic analysis methods for unanchored liquid storage tanks have repeatedly demonstrated inconsistencies in predicting the actual behavior of these structures. Most methods incorporate a pseudo-dynamic analysis in lieu of the full time-dependent seismic analysis. Further, the estimation of liquid-exerted overturning moments lacks explicit consideration of the support effects. These overturning moments tend to lift the shell off its foundation which may cause buckling of the shell on one side and a separation of the base plate from the shell on the other. A finite element program capable of handling the complexities associated with the nonlinear transient response of unanchored tanks was developed. It was observed that the overturning moment exerted on an unanchored tank may be smaller than that exerted on a similar anchored tank, yet the stresses at the shell bottom of an unanchored tank shell are generally much larger than those of an anchored tank subjected to same ground motion.

OSTI ID:
124601
Report Number(s):
CONF-950740--; ISBN 0-7918-1345-2
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

Seismic response of unanchored and partially anchored liquid-storage tanks. Final report
Technical Report · Thu Nov 30 23:00:00 EST 1995 · OSTI ID:257314

Analysis of tank damage during the 1994 Northridge earthquake
Conference · Sat Dec 30 23:00:00 EST 1995 · OSTI ID:403468

On the seismic behavior of unanchored liquid containers
Journal Article · Thu Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1996 · Journal of Pressure Vessel Technology · OSTI ID:390209