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Seismic Response of Elevated Liquid Storage

Tanks

Conference Paper · February 2017

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 SEISMIC RESPONSE OF ELEVATED LIQUID STORAGE TANKS
MUSIL Miloš (SK), SIVÝ Martin (SK), CHLEBO Ondrej (SK), PROKOP Ondrej (SK)

Abstract. The paper deals with the seismic analysis of elevated liquid storage tanks with the
aim to compute the response of the structure to earthquake loading. In the seismic analysis,
the unfavourable mode of oscillation is computed by the analytical and numerical approach.
The computation of the response to the seismic event is performed by spectrum analysis with
El Centro earthquake response spectrum plot and results are compared by time-history
analysis using El Centro accelerogram. All analyses are carried out by FE method in
software ANSYS.

Keywords: elevated storage tank, seismic excitation, spring-mass model, Eurocode 8

Mathematics Subject Classification: Primary 74H45, 70J10.

1 Introduction

Large capacity tanks and vessels are mostly used as a storage for liquids (non-toxic, non-flammable
liquids to highly flammable, toxic chemicals with explosive nature) or bulk materials. Tanks can be
found almost in each industry sector, e.g., nuclear, chemical, food, etc. In addition to storage
function, vessels are essential components in transmission and processing systems (e.g., heat
exchangers, evaporators, drying devices, cooling system, etc.) [1].

In today’s global industry development and improving the efficiency of production, emphasis must
be more and more laid to increasing the safety of facilities using new advanced technical resources
that will ensure effective prevention of the large industrial accidents. In addition to standard
requirements for devices design, there are some qualitative methods of hazard identification
(HAZOP, DOW index) to prevent negative consequences in ordinary operation [2].

One of the most installed types of the tank of various sizes and shapes is elevated liquid storage
tank. It is often used in industrial facilities, nuclear power plants and military bases. This type of
tanks consists of a supporting structure and a vessel. The supporting structure can be assumed as a
braced frame, a multi-column assembly or an axisymmetric pedestal and the vessel can be of
various shapes (e.g., cylindrical, conical, spherical, etc.).
During operation tanks can be subjected to different static and dynamic loading. One of the most
critical external dynamic events affecting safety and operation efficiency of the tank-liquid system
is the seismic excitation. The vulnerability of the structures to ground motions has been
demonstrated by almost every major past and recent earthquake (e.g. El Centro, Fukushima). In
regions prone to strong ground shaking, negative consequences may lead to damage, ruptures of
storage tanks or failures of tank accessories. If the industrial facilities store flammable or toxic
liquids, disastrous effects, such as uncontrolled fire, explosion or toxic dispersion can arise.

Elevated tanks are vulnerable to dynamic loading due to the relatively small resistance of the
supporting structure. The most specific destructions of this type of tank-liquid system are e.g.,
disruptions of slender brace due to their inability to resist against the compression, disruptions of
the turnbuckles used in the braces, disruptions of the vertical brittle brace, a plastic joint formation
in one of the beams at the highest level of the structure and the disruption in the welded joint of
piping due to the lack of free movement for the largely displacing tank [3].

Due to negative effects which can be developed in storage tanks, it was an effort to describe tank
response during a seismic event to prevent pollution, radiation or loss of human lives. Based on
analytical results of G. W. Housner [4] and A. S. Veletsos [5] and from experimental research,
different provisions for storage tanks have been developed and some of them were adopted in
standards dedicated to seismic resistance (e.g., API, Eurocode 8, etc.) [6].

2 Simplified procedure

When an elevated storage tank, which is not completely filled with a liquid, is subjected to a
horizontal earthquake excitation, staging, tank walls and liquid are subjected to a horizontal
acceleration. In the model, the liquid may be substituted by two masses – impulsive and convective.
The impulsive part represents effects of the lower portion of the liquid which moves in unison with
the structure. It is represented by an impulsive mass mi rigidly connected to the tank walls, located
at a height hi or hi’ above the tank bottom. The upper liquid region with the free surface
correspondents to the convective part which causes the sloshing effects. This portion is described by
a mass mc, connected to the walls through a spring of stiffness kc, located at the height hc or hc’.

Fig. 1. Elevated storage tank and simplified model

Parameters introduced in Fig. 1 are used in calculations of basic seismic characteristics, such as
base shear, overturning moment and hydrodynamic pressure [7, 8]. Procedure for parameters
calculation of cylindrical storage tanks can be found in [9]. The dependency of these parameters to
slenderness ratio is shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 2. Dependency of equivalent model’s parameters to slenderness parameter

If a closed elevated tank is empty or full of liquid, it is essential to assume this structure as a one-
mass structure. However, elevated tanks are almost never filled with the liquid but have a free
surface; hence, they can be idealized by a two-mass model (Fig. 3a).

Fig. 3. Two-mass idealization of elevated liquid storage tank

Two-mass idealization was proposed by G. W. Housner [4] and is used in the most of the
international codes [9, 10]. The model has two degrees of freedom corresponding to masses mi and
mc (Fig. 3a). Structural mass ms should be added to impulsive mass. It includes the mass of the tank
and the portion of the mass of staging. The sum of impulsive and structural mass should be
connected to the ground by a spring representing the staging stiffness ks (it acts like a lateral spring).

The response of this simplified model can be obtained by elementary structural dynamics. Due to
large differences between natural frequencies, the system can be treated as two uncoupled SDOF
systems – one representing the impulsive and structural mass behaving as an inverted pendulum
with lateral stiffness ks and the other representing the convective mass with a spring of stiffness kc
(Fig. 3b).
3 Seismic response of elevated liquid storage tanks

For seismic analysis of structures and equipment following methods are acceptable [11]:
 Response spectrum method (spectrum analysis)
 Method of direct time integration of the motion equations system (time-history analysis)
 Equivalent static method (static analysis)

Following analyses for determination of seismic response are carried out on the model of the
flexible (steel) elevated storage tank with geometric parameters shown in Fig. 4a. The tank contains
liquid (water) with the height of free surface HL from floor slab. Tank base is fixed to the rigid
foundation.

Fig. 4. Drawing and FE model of elevated liquid storage tank

The seismic analysis of elevated storage tank containing liquid is a problem involving fluid-
structure interaction. This interaction can be investigated by using different (classical and modern)
approaches, such as mentioned the added mass concept, Lagrangian or Eulerian methods, etc. These
analyses can be performed by the analytical methods or by finite element method. Software like
ANSYS enables to model the liquid using elements based on Lagrangian or Eulerian formulation.
Due to longer computational time in time-history analysis, the liquid in FE model (Fig. 4b) is
modeled assuming the added mass concept.

The aim of the paper is to determine the seismic response to earthquake event in the form of
displacements of the structure with liquid. Therefore, the liquid does not have to consist of
impulsive and convective mass (sloshing is not investigated) and can be modeled only as one mass
with the total mass equal to the liquid mass in the model. It is not reasonable to attach the mass to a
single point on the shell wall since this practice will result to misrepresentation of the mode of
oscillation and response as well. A simple solution is to add the liquid mass uniformly to the shell
wall to the height of the liquid free surface. Then the investigated FE model of elevated tank
consists of beam elements (four column staging), shell elements (vessel) and mass elements
(liquid).

For elevated tanks, staging components should be designed for the critical direction of the seismic
excitation. It follows different components of staging may have different critical directions [10].
Fig. 5 represents the critical direction of the seismic force for the typical four column frame type, in
which a) correspondents to the critical direction for shear force in a brace and b) represents the
critical direction for axial force in a column.

Fig. 5. Critical direction of the seismic excitation

As the seismic excitation, acceleration time-history of El Centro earthquake (California, 1940) with
PGA 3.417 m/sec2 at 2.14 sec and respective response spectrum are applied (Fig. 6).

Fig. 6. Acceleration time-history and response spectrum of El Centro earthquake

3.1 Impulsive mode of oscillation

Modal analysis is the first analysis which should be carried out with the aim to determine dynamic
properties of investigated tank-liquid system. Standards concerning with seismic resistance usually
contain the procedure for analytical calculation of the impulsive natural frequency fi when the
unfavourable response of the liquid storage tank occurs. This response is described by liquid
oscillation in unison with the oscillation of the tank. Using simplified procedure [10] this frequency
can be calculated as follows

= = (1)

where is the deflection of the center of gravity of the tank when a lateral force of
magnitude (mi + ms)g is applied at the center of gravity of tank.

Applying (1), impulsive natural frequency is 1.25 Hz. The first impulsive mode of oscillation
obtained from modal analysis using ANSYS is presented in Fig. 7. Respective impulsive
response occurs at 1.18 Hz.

Fig. 7. Impulsive mode of oscillation

3.2 Spectrum analysis

Response spectrum method (spectrum analysis) is the significant method for seismic analysis of the
structures and equipment. It is mainly used instead of time-history analysis to compute the response
of structures. Spectrum analysis can be employed if the seismically loaded structure has the
character of linear, proportionally damped system, the seismic excitation does not correlate in each
direction and the first resonant frequency is lower than 35 Hz.

The structure is usually modeled as MDOF system on the base of finite element method [12]. The
equation of motion for this structure under earthquake ground motion ̈ ( ) can be written as

̈( )+ ̇( )+ ( )=− ̈ ( ) (2)

where d is a vector of excitation direction (direction cosines).

For computation of the response, results from modal analysis must be known which are obtained by
solving following eigenvalue problem

( − ) =0 (3)
det( − )=0

The solution of (3) gives n frequencies and respective modal vectors , where n is the number of
DOFs of the investigated structure. The modal vectors have the following orthogonal properties

=0 =0 ≠ (4)

The modal vectors are often normalized such that

=1 =ω (5)

It is often assumed that the damping matrix C has orthogonality properties similar to those of M
and K and that the damping ratio can be defined for each mode

= 0 for ≠ ; = 2ω ξ (6)

The response of the structure is represented in terms of a linear superposition of mode shapes

( )=∑ w ( ) (7)

where w ( ) are called normal coordinates and are functions of the time variable .
Substitution of (7) in (2) and pre-multiplication by

̈( )+ ̇( )+ ( )=− ̈ ( ) (8)

Application of the properties (4) to (6) gives

ẅ ( ) + 2ω ξ ẇ ( ) + ω w ( ) = − ̈ ( ) (9)

in which is called the participation factor for mode i and is given by

= (10)

Maximum displacement vector in the ith mode can be written

= (11)

where represents spectral acceleration for ith frequency.

Given displacement vector (11) represents the maximum value of any response of interest. The
overall response of the system is calculated by combining the maximum modal responses specified
by one of the mode combination methods (SRSS, CQC, GRP, etc.). General rule for modal
responses combination can be defined as

=± , (12)

where , are the ith and jth modal response respectively and , is a combination matrix whose
shape and values are based on the chosen modal response combination.

For computation of seismic response of investigated elevated storage tank, single-point response
spectrum analysis is performed. The tank-liquid system is excited with respective response
spectrum in the x-direction (the critical direction for axial force in a column). The seismic
acceleration response spectrum of the El Centro acceleration time-history with 5 % damping ratio
(Fig. 6) is applied.

Based on results from modal analysis, GRP method is used for the combination of maximum modal
responses. This combination rule is used due to closely spaced modes of oscillation. Figure 8
presents the overall response of the tank-liquid system to the El Centro response spectrum. The
maximum response of the liquid-structure system is 7.6e-2 m.

Fig. 8. Maximum seismic response of liquid storage tank to the correspondent response spectra

3.3 Time-History analysis

This analysis uses the method of integrating the equations of motion. Time-History analysis is a
technique used to determine the dynamic response of a structure under the action of any time-
dependent loads (solution in time domain). This method is universal and can be used for various
structure (e.g. rigid body, linear proportionally damped systems). If the structure shows a significant
nonlinear behaviour, it is non-proportionally damped, or excitation from different directions shows
a significant correlation, it is necessary to use this method. For computation of time-dependent
responses, various numerical integration methods are used. One of the methods, that is mostly used
and is available in ANSYS, is Newmark’s implicit method [13].

̈( )+ ̇( )+ ( )= ( ) (13)

The equation of motion (13) can be rewritten as

̈ + ̇ + = (14)

where ̈ is the nodal acceleration vector, ̇ the nodal velocity vector, the nodal
displacement vector and the applied load. All vectors are assumed at time + Δ .

In the equation of motion (14), for convenience, only force ( ) on the right side is considered. In
the case of the seismic excitation, the force ( ) is replaced by − ̈ .

Displacement and velocity are obtained as follows

= + ̇ Δ + [(1/2 − ) ̈ + ̈ ]Δ (15)

̇ = ̇ + [(1 − ) ̈ + δ ̈ ]Δ (16)

where ̈ represents the nodal acceleration vector, ̇ the nodal velocity vector, the nodal
displacement vector. All vectors are assumed at time . , represent Newmark’s integration
parameters which influence accuracy and stability of algorithm (average acceleration method, linear
acceleration method). Introducing (15) and (16) to (14) the following equation is obtained

+ + = + + ̇ + −1 ̈ +
+ + −1 ̇ + −2 ̈ (17)

First, the unknown is computed using (17), then two unknowns are obtained using (18)

̇ = ( − )− −1 ̇ − −2 ̈
(18)
̈ = ( − )− ̇ − −1 ̈

To achieve correct results, the choice of integration step is important and depends on the integration
method. The general requirement for the integration step is to be at maximum 1/20 of the modal
period which is significant for the response of a given component if the Newmark’s method is used.
If earthquake ground motion is applied, the integration step should not be shorter than the interval
of the input acceleration data which is usually 0.01 or 0.005 sec [14].

Acceleration time-history of the seismic excitation (Fig. 6) is applied to the elevated tank-liquid
system in the x-direction which is the critical direction for axial force in a column. Seismic
responses are computed at every time step.
Figure 9 shows only the maximum response of investigated model to the seismic excitation and
presents the time-varying displacements of the system in a node in which maximum response
occurs. Maximum response with the peak value of 7.9e-2 m occurs at 6.28 sec.

Fig. 9. Maximum seismic response of liquid storage tank to earthquake excitation El Centro

4 Conclusion

The paper was dedicated to performing a seismic analysis of a model of the elevated liquid storage
tank with the aim to compute its response to given seismic excitation (El Centro). Seismic analysis
can be assumed as one of the analyses which should be carried out to ensure satisfactory
performance of tanks, especially in earthquake prone regions.

The basic concept for evaluating the equivalent simplified model of elevated tanks used in
international standards was introduced. This procedure is valid for circular or rectangular vessels.
For other tank shapes, e.g. intze, truncated conical shape, slenderness parameter can correspondent
to that of the equivalent circular tank of the same volume and radius equal to the radius at top liquid
level; mass, height and stiffness parameters of the equivalent circular tank shall be used.

The situation when liquid oscillates in unison with the tank represents an unfavorable response to
the system. International standards provide some provisions for calculation of the respective
impulsive frequency of that response. It can be noted, for shaft type staging, in addition to the
flexural deformation, shear deformation may be included in the calculation of lateral stiffness of
staging.

Seismic response to earthquake loading was computed by FE software ANSYS using spectrum and
time-dependent analysis. When considering only overall response for linear behaved structure,
method of response spectrum is advantageous due to a less computational effort. The benefit of
time-history analysis is in its generality. The disadvantage is longer computational time compared
to other methods and problems with the convergence of the solution. The results between each
solution of dynamic analyses represented good conformity.

Acknowledgement

The paper was supported by the STU Grant scheme for Support of Young Researchers entitled
“Design and Optimization of the Measuring Equipment for Vibration Tests.”

References

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Current address

Miloš Musil, prof. Ing., CSc.

Institute of Applied Mechanics and Mechatronics, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering,
Slovak University of Technology
Námestie slobody 17, 812 31 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
Tel. number: +421 (0)2 57296389, e-mail: milos.musil@stuba.sk

Martin Sivý, Ing.

Institute of Applied Mechanics and Mechatronics, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering,
Slovak University of Technology
Námestie slobody 17, 812 31 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
Tel. number: +421 (0)2 57296479, e-mail: martin.sivy@stuba.sk

Ondrej Chlebo, Ing., PhD.

Institute of Applied Mechanics and Mechatronics, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering,
Slovak University of Technology
Námestie slobody 17, 812 31 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
Tel. number: +421 (0)2 57296376, e-mail: ondrej.chlebo@stuba.sk

Ondrej Prokop, Ing.

Institute of Applied Mechanics and Mechatronics, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering,
Slovak University of Technology
Námestie slobody 17, 812 31 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
Tel. number: +421 (0)2 57296479, e-mail: prokop.ondrej6@gmail.com

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