External pressure limitations for 0--15 psi storage tanks
- ICF Kaiser Hanford Co., Richland, WA (United States)
- Westinghouse Hanford Co., Richland, WA (United States)
Large cylindrical storage tanks are designed in accordance with design rules of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Section 3, Subsection NC, Article NC-3900 or American Petroleum Institute (API) Standard 620. Both of these Codes have identical requirements. These Codes provide a limit on the partial vacuum in the gas or vapor space not to exceed 1 oz/in{sup 2} to ensure stability of cylindrical walls against collapse. This criterion seems to be too conservative for the underground double shell storage tanks to be built at Hanford for the Department of Energy. The analysis presented herein shows that the bottom plate of the Hanford tank is the most critical component when an empty tank is subjected to partial vacuum. However, the allowable external pressures for both cylindrical walls and the bottom plate are significantly higher than 1 oz/in{sup 2}. The allowable external pressure for the bottom plate is largely dependent upon the plate uplift considerations which in turns depends on the plate thickness. The large displacement non-linear elastic analyses and the eigenvalue buckling solutions indicate that considerable wrinkling can occur before a snap-through buckling failure occurs.
- OSTI ID:
- 129019
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-950740--; ISBN 0-7918-1339-8
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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