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Sloshing Effects on the Seismic Design of Horizontal-Cylindrical and Spherical

Industrial Vessels

Article  in  Journal of Pressure Vessel Technology · August 2006

DOI: 10.1115/1.2217965

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Spyros A. Karamanos1
e-mail: skara@mie.uth.gr
Lazaros A. Patkas
Manolis A. Platyrrachos
Department of Mechanical & Industrial
Engineering,
University of Thessaly,
38334 Volos,
Greece
Sloshing Effects on the Seismic
Design of Horizontal-Cylindrical
and Spherical Industrial Vessels
The present paper investigates sloshing effects on the earthquake design of horizontal-
cylindrical and spherical industrial vessels. Assuming small-amplitude free-surface el-
evation, a linearized sloshing problem is obtained, and its solution provides sloshing
frequencies, modes, and masses. Based on an “impulsive-convective” decomposition of
the container-fluid motion, an efficient methodology is proposed for the calculation of
seismic force. The methodology gives rise to appropriate spring-mass mechanical mod-
els, which represent sloshing effects on the container-fluid system in an elegant and
simple manner. Special issues, such as the deformability of horizontal-cylindrical con-
tainers or the flexibility of spherical vessel supports, are also taken into account. The
proposed methodology can be used to calculate the seismic force, in the framework of
liquid container earthquake design, and extends the current design practice for vertical
cylindrical tanks stated in existing seismic design specifications (e.g., API Standard 650
and Eurocode 8). The methodology is illustrated in three design examples.
关DOI: 10.1115/1.2217965兴

1 Introduction thorough presentation and a concise literature review of liquid

Cylindrical and spherical tanks or pressure vessels are common
in chemical plants or refineries. They are employed as storage
vessels for liquefied petroleum gas 共LPG兲, liquid propane, propy-
lene, and LNG, and their seismic design and, in particular, the
calculation of the maximum sloshing force due to earthquake con-
stitutes a crucial issue for their structural integrity under earth-
quake loads.
Sloshing has been considered as a typical linear eigenvalue
problem in terms of a fluid velocity potential function, represent-
ing the small-amplitude free vibrations of the surface of an ideal
liquid inside a motionless container. In many engineering applica-
tions, in addition to sloshing frequencies, hydrodynamic pressures
and forces due to sloshing need to be calculated. In particular,
earthquake-induced sloshing has been recognized as an important
issue toward safeguarding the structural integrity of liquid storage
tanks or vessels, and has been the subject of numerous analytical,
numerical, and experimental works. The pioneering work of
Housner 关1兴 presented a solution for the hydrodynamic effects in
nondeformable vertical cylinders and rectangles, splitting the so-
lution in two parts, namely the “impulsive” and the “convective”
motion. This concept has constituted the basis for the API 650
standard provisions 共Appendix E兲 for vertical cylindrical tanks
关2兴. Veletsos and Yang 关3兴, Haroun and Housner 关4兴, and Haroun
关5兴 have extended this formulation to include the effects of shell
deformation, and its interaction with hydrodynamic effects,
whereas notable experimental investigations were reported in
关6,7兴. More recently, uplifting of unanchored tanks, as well as
soil-structure interaction effects, have been studied extensively in
关8–14兴. Some of the above-mentioned works have constituted the
basis for the seismic design provisions for vertical cylindrical
tanks in Annex A of Eurocode 8—part 4.3 关15兴. The reader is
referred to the review paper of Rammerstorfer et al. 关16兴 for a
1
Corresponding author.
Contributed by the Pressure Vessels and Piping Division of ASME for publication
in the JOURNAL OF PRESSURE VESSEL TECHNOLOGY. Manuscript received May 4, 2005;
final manuscript received September 12, 2005. Review conducted by Rudolph J.
Scavuzzo. Paper presented at the 2004 ASME Pressure Vessels and Piping Division
Conference 共PVP2004兲, July 25, 2004–July 29,2004, San Diego, California, USA.
storage tank response under seismic loads, including fluid-
structure and soil-structure interaction effects.
The above studies focused on the seismic response of vertical-
cylindrical tanks. On the other hand, horizontal-cylindrical and
spherical vessels 共Fig. 1兲 have significant industrial applications
共e.g., in chemical plants and refineries兲, and their sloshing re-
sponse under strong seismic events is of particular interest for a
reliable estimate of the total horizontal force and the correspond-
ing overturning moment. Nevertheless, the amount of works con-
cerning sloshing in horizontal-cylindrical and spherical containers
is quite limited, compared with the large number of publications
on vertical cylinders. Note that the API 650 provisions for seismic
design 关2兴 refer exclusively to vertical cylinders, whereas in
关15,17兴 little attention is given to horizontal cylinders and spheres.
Budiansky 关18兴 was the first to calculate sloshing frequencies
and hydrodynamic forces in spheres and two-dimensional circular
canals under transverse excitation, describing the flow field
through a set of integral equations, which was solved numerically.
Experimental measurements of sloshing in spheres and horizontal
cylinders have been reported in 关19兴 and, more recently, in 关20兴,
whereas notable semianalytical and numerical works on the cal-
culation of sloshing frequencies in those geometries have been
presented in 关21–26兴. Recently, Patkas and Karamanos 关27兴 re-
ported on externally induced sloshing calculations in spheres and
horizontal cylinders under transverse excitation, using a varia-
tional formulation.
The particular case of sloshing in horizontal cylinders under
longitudinal excitation has received less attention. Kobayashi
et al. 关20兴, based on experimental measurements, demonstrated
that hydrodynamic forces in horizontal cylinders under longitudi-
nal excitation can be calculated quite accurately replacing the cy-
lindrical vessel by an “equivalent rectangular container.” This
concept has been demonstrated numerically in 关28兴, using a finite
element formulation.
The present study is aimed at proposing an efficient and unified
methodology for earthquake-induced sloshing analysis in vessels
of horizontal-cylindrical and spherical shape, under horizontal
ground motion. The method is based on a modal analysis that
provides sloshing frequencies and the corresponding sloshing
masses, so that the liquid response and total seismic force are
readily calculated. Considering an “impulsive-convective” decom-

328 / Vol. 128, AUGUST 2006 Copyright © 2006 by ASME Transactions of the ASME
 ⌽U = Ẋ共t兲x 共4兲
the “sloshing motion” potential ⌽S, expressed as
⬁

⌽S共x,y,z,t兲 = 兺
n=1,2,3,. . .
Ẏ n共t兲⌿n共x,y,z兲 共5兲

Fig. 1 Industrial vessels „horizontal cylinder and sphere…
position of the liquid motion, simplified mechanical models are
proposed to approximate the response. In horizontal cylindrical
vessels, excitation in both the transverse and longitudinal direc-
tion is considered. The deformation effects of long horizontal cyl-
inders are also investigated, through a simplified mechanical
model. For the particular case of a horizontal cylinder under lon-
gitudinal excitation, its equivalence with an appropriate rectangu-
lar container is demonstrated. In addition, the flexibility effects of
the support system in spherical containers are taken into account.
The proposed methodology offers an elegant and efficient tool for
calculating the seismic force in the course of a seismic design
procedure, and extends the current design practice, stated in API
650 关2兴 and Eurocode 8 关15兴 for vertical cylindrical tanks.
where Y n共t兲 are generalized coordinates and the dot denotes de-
rivative with respect to time. The choice of spatial functions
⌿n共x , y , z兲 is an important step for the efficient solution of the
sloshing problem. Quite often, those functions are chosen as the
eigenmodes of the corresponding free-vibration problem 共obtained
by setting Ẋ = 0 in Eq. 共2兲, so that ⌽U = 0兲, referred to as “sloshing
modes.” In such a case, functions ⌿n共x , y , z兲 are mutually or-
thogonal and the generalized coordinates Y n共t兲 are computed from
a series of uncoupled linear equations
Ÿ n + 2␰n␻nẎ n + ␻2nY n = − ␥nẌ n = 1,2,3, . . . 共6兲
where ␻n is the sloshing frequency of the nth mode, ␥n expresses
the contribution of the external excitation to the specific mode,
and a damping ratio ␰n is introduced to express dissipation effects.
The liquid motion is associated with hydrodynamic pressures
p共x , y , z , t兲, calculated directly from ⌽ through the Bernoulli
equation 共p = −␳⌽̇兲 and the total hydrodynamic force at the con-
tainer wall is obtained through an appropriate integration of those
pressures on the “wet” surface of the container in the direction of
the earthquake excitation. Thus, the total force F is the sum of the
“uniform motion” force FU

冕
2 General Approach ⬁
⳵⌽
Assuming ideal fluid conditions and small-amplitude elevation
of the free surface, the liquid motion in a undeformed 共rigid兲
F=−␳
B1
⳵t
共ex · n兲dB1 = − MLẌ −
n=1,2,3,. . .
兺
LnŸ n 共7兲

container under horizontal excitation X共t兲 in the x direction 共Fig.

2兲 is described by the flow potential ⌽共x , y , z , t兲, so that the liquid where ML is the total liquid mass, and Ln depend on the container
geometry, i.e., on the spatial functions ⌿n共x , y , z兲
velocity is the gradient of ⌽ 共u = ⵜ⌽兲, which satisfies the Laplace
equation,

ⵜ 2⌽ =
⳵ 2⌽ ⳵ 2⌽ ⳵ 2⌽
+ + =0 in the fluid domain ⍀ 共1兲
Ln = 冕 B1
␳⌿ndB1 共8兲

⳵x2 ⳵ y 2 ⳵z2
Using the following change of variables
subjected to the following boundary conditions 共Fig. 1兲
Yn
⳵⌽ an = or un = an + X n = 1,2,3, . . . 共9兲
= Ẋ共ex · n兲 at the “ wet ” surface of the vessel wall 〉1 ␥n
⳵n
the liquid motion equations 共6兲 become
共2兲
än + 2␰n␻nȧn + ␻2nan = − Ẍ n = 1,2,3, . . . 共10兲
⳵ 2⌽ ⳵⌽
+g =0 at the free surface 〉2 共3兲 or equivalently,
⳵t2 ⳵y
where ex the unit vector in the x direction and n is the outward ün + 2␰n␻n共u̇n − Ẋ兲 + ␻2n共un − X兲 = 0 n = 1,2,3, . . . 共11兲
normal vector at B1. The unknown potential can be decomposed
in two parts, and the “uniform motion” potential ⌽U Equation 共10兲 expresses the liquid motion with respect to the con-
tainer, and Eq. 共11兲 expresses the total liquid motion 共including
the motion of the container兲. Furthermore, the force in Eq. 共7兲
becomes
⬁

F=− 兺
n=1,2,3,. . .
Mncän − MLẌ 共12兲

or equivalently
⬁

F=− 兺
n=1,2,3,. . .
Mncün − MIẌ 共13兲

where Mnc = ␥nLn. Equation 共13兲 shows that F consists of an “im-

pulsive” force F⌱

FI = − MIẌ, 共14兲
Fig. 2 Liquid container under external excitation where

Journal of Pressure Vessel Technology AUGUST 2006, Vol. 128 / 329

 Table 1 Variation of the first three „two-dimensional… sloshing
frequencies with respect to the liquid height in a horizontal
cylinder

e ␻21R / g ␻22R / g ␻23R / g ␻24R / g

−1.0 1.0 6.0 15.0 28.0

−0.9 1.0209 5.6462 12.4355 23.324
−0.8 1.0438 5.3550 10.7704 16.494
−0.6 1.0970 4.9370 9.0076 13.041
−0.4 1.1627 4.6987 8.1988 11.656
−0.2 1.2461 4.6067 7.8537 11.074
Fig. 3 Configuration of a horizontal-cylindrical liquid 0.0 1.3557 4.6511 7.8199 10.972
container 0.2 1.5075 4.8509 8.0783 11.293
0.4 1.7346 5.2768 8.7221 12.157
0.6 2.1237 6.1395 10.0815 14.016
⬁ 0.8 3.0215 8.3152 13.5640 18.810
0.9 4.3115 11.5515 18.7696 25.990
MI = ML − 兺
n=1,2,3,. . .
Mnc , 共15兲 0.95
1.0
6.1519
¯
16.2222
¯
26.2969
¯
36.386
¯
and a “convective” force FC
⬁

FC = − 兺
n=1,2,3,. . .
Mncün 共16兲
Furthermore, the total liquid mass ML can be considered as the
sum of:
• the “impulsive” mass MI, which represents the mass that
“follows” the container motion X共t兲,
• the “convective” or “sloshing” masses Mnc 共n = 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . 兲,
which correspond to liquid motion due to free-surface eleva-
tion 共convective motion兲. Each sloshing mass represents the
participation of the corresponding mode on the entire re-
sponse; it is expected that the Mnc / ML ratio decreases
monotonically with increasing values of n.
The sum of all the convective masses is referred to as “convective
mass”
⬁ the z direction. The sloshing frequencies ␻n and the corresponding
MC = 兺
n=1,2,3,. . .
Mnc 共17兲
Note that in the course of a seismic design procedure, the impul-
sive force should comprise the inertia force of the container’s
shell mass MSH, so that in Eqs. 共13兲–共15兲
MI = 共ML + MSH兲 − 兺M
n
nc = 共ML + MSH兲 − MC 共18兲
and the sum of MSH and ML is the total moving mass MT of the
container-liquid system.
In rectangular and vertical-cylindrical liquid storage tanks, as-
suming nondeformable walls, analytical expressions for the slosh-
ing frequencies ␻n and modes ⌿n共x , y , z兲 can be obtained 共e.g.,
关19兴兲, and the calculation of sloshing masses Mnc is straightfor-
ward. On the other hand, such analytical expressions for the slosh-
ing frequencies and the corresponding modes for horizontal-
cylindrical and spherical vessels do not exist, and should be
computed numerically. A high-accuracy computation of ␻n and
⌿n共x , y , z兲 in horizontal cylindrical and spherical vessels, as well
as the corresponding sloshing masses Mnc, has been conducted in
关27兴, through a semianalytical variational formulation that uses a
series expansion of the sloshing potential in terms of harmonic
functions. Results from that work are directly employed in the
next two sections.
3 Horizontal Cylindrical Vessels
In this section, the response of horizontal-cylindrical liquid ves-
sels under horizontal seismic excitation is examined in both the
transverse and longitudinal directions, x and z, respectively 共Fig.
3兲. The free surface of the liquid may be at any height 共0 ⬍ H
⬍ 2R兲. Sloshing frequencies, modes, and masses have been com-
puted elsewhere through a variational formulation 关27兴, under the
assumption that the horizontal cylindrical container is nondeform-
able. Note that industrial vessels are quite thick to resist high
levels of internal pressure and, therefore, they remain practically
undeformed. However, for a long cylinder, supported near the two
ends, the cylinder may deform as a beam, and deformation effects
can be taken into account using a simplified fluid-vessel interac-
tion formulation, as described in the Appendix.
3.1 Nondeformable Horizontal Cylinders Under Trans-
verse Excitation. The flow potential for a nondeformable hori-
zontal cylindrical vessel under transverse excitation 共x axis in Fig.
3兲 can be expressed in the form of Eq. 共6兲. Under this type of
excitation, the problem is two-dimensional 共independent of z兲, and
a unit length in the z direction is considered. Therefore, the fluid
domain ⍀ can be considered as a circular sector of unit length in
modal functions ⌿n共x , y兲 are computed numerically, using the
variational form of the boundary value problem 共1兲–共3兲, and ap-
plying Galerkin’s through harmonic bounded functions, as well as
constant-strain triangular finite elements, to obtain the discretized
equations of motion. Subsequently, using standard modal analysis,
the sloshing frequencies and modes are calculated, and the slosh-
ing masses are obtained using the methodology described in Sec.
2. More details on the numerical formulation and solution can be
found in 关27兴.
In Table 1, numerical results are presented in dimensionless
form for the first three sloshing frequencies 共␭n = ␻2nR / g ,
n = 1 , 2 , 3兲 for different liquid levels. The dimensionless parameter
e is equal to H / R − 1 where H is the liquid depth 共0 艋 H 艋 2R兲.
The results are in very good agreement with those computed nu-
merically in 关25兴, as well as with experimental results, reported in
关19兴. The sloshing frequencies are also depicted in Fig. 4. Further-
more, the sloshing mass ratios M1C / ML, M2C / ML, 兺MnC / ML,
MI / ML that correspond to the above sloshing frequencies com-
puted through the methodology outlined in Sec. 2, are shown in
Table 2 and graphically in Fig. 5. The tabulated values show that
when the cylindrical container is nearly full, the entire mass re-
sponds “impulsively,” i.e., it follows the motion of the container,
and that sloshing effects are negligible. On the other hand, when
the container is nearly empty, the impulsive mass is almost zero
and sloshing dominates liquid response. For the cases where the
liquid height has an intermediate value 共cases of practical inter-
est兲, the total liquid mass is divided in an “impulsive” mass and
the “convected” or “sloshing” masses. An important observation
is that sloshing mass ratios corresponding to higher modes 共n
艌 2兲 are considerably smaller than the first sloshing mass ratio.
Therefore, estimates of the total sloshing force that employ only

330 / Vol. 128, AUGUST 2006 Transactions of the ASME

 Fig. 5 Variation of sloshing and impulsive mass ratios mass
Fig. 4 Variation of the first four sloshing frequencies of a two- ratios M1C / ML, M2C / ML, ⌺MkC / ML, MI / ML with respect to liquid
dimensional circular container with respect to liquid height height in a two-dimensional circular container
„␭n = ␻2nR / g…, in a two-dimensional circular container

number of spring-mass oscillators, to account for higher modes,

the first sloshing mode 共mass兲 are quite accurate for practical en-
gineering purposes. Regarding the direction of forces FC and FI,
since all pressures on the container’s wall are in the radial direc-
tion, the resultant forces always pass through the center of the
container.
Based on the force equation 共13兲 and the equations of motion
共10兲 or 共11兲, and considering only the first sloshing mode for
simplicity, a simple spring-mass mechanical model can be pro-
posed, as shown in Fig. 6, which illustrates the motion of the
fluid-container system. In this model, y 2 = X共t兲 represents the mo-
tion of the external source, and y 1 = u1共t兲 expresses the motion of
the liquid mass associated with sloshing. The total liquid mass ML
is split in two parts m1 and m2, which correspond to y 1 and y 2,
and express the so-called “convective” 共or “sloshing”兲 motion and
“impulsive” motion, respectively, a concept introduced in 关1兴. For
the particular case of a half-full cylindrical container, m1
⯝ 0.6ML and m2 ⯝ 0.4ML. It is also straightforward to develop
more elaborate mechanical models, which include an appropriate
describing more accurately the sloshing response of the liquid.
3.2 Effects of Wall Deformation in Long Cylinders Under
Transverse Excitation. Industrial horizontal-cylindrical vessels
are rather thick, with radius-to-thickness ratio less than 80, to
resist high internal pressure. When such vessels are relatively
short 共L / R 艋 10兲, it is reasonable to assume that the vessel wall is
nondeformable 共rigid兲, as assumed in Sec. 3.1. On the other hand,
when the cylindrical vessel is rather long, supported at two loca-
tions, the wall may deform. Assuming a beam-type deformation
while its cross section remains practically circular 共undeformed兲 it
is possible to develop a simple methodology to simulate the
coupled response of the liquid-vessel system, as described in the
Appendix. In such a case, the motion of the cylindrical container
is directly determined by the cylinder axis motion, which can be
decomposed in the motion of the supports Xg共t兲, independent of z
coordinate, and the beam-like motion due to container deforma-
tion, described by a function y共z , t兲 as shown in Fig. 7

Table 2 Variation of the first three sloshing masses with respect to the liquid height in a
horizontal cylinder. The values of ML refer to liquid only, excluding the mass of the container.

M1C M2C M3C M4C 兺MkC MI

e
ML ML ML ML ML ML

−1.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0

−0.95 0.97994 0.000154 0.0000006 0.0000000 0.98009 0.01991
−0.9 0.95974 0.000577 0.0000079 0.0000004 0.96032 0.03968
−0.8 0.91895 0.002010 0.0000821 0.0000115 0.92105 0.07895
−0.6 0.83566 0.006113 0.0006170 0.0001524 0.84264 0.15736
−0.4 0.74989 0.010585 0.0016235 0.0004958 0.76310 0.23690
−0.2 0.66125 0.014636 0.0028551 0.0009891 0.68110 0.31890
0.0 0.56916 0.017797 0.0040544 0.0015392 0.59547 0.40543
0.2 0.47276 0.019669 0.0050013 0.0020323 0.50407 0.49593
0.4 0.37077 0.019790 0.0054773 0.0023499 0.40753 0.59247
0.6 0.26115 0.017534 0.0052114 0.0023401 0.30165 0.69835
0.8 0.14032 0.011849 0.0037700 0.0017673 0.18100 0.81900
0.9 0.07361 0.007076 0.0023414 0.0011258 0.09045 0.90955
0.95 0.03793 0.003948 0.0013389 0.0006539 0.05940 0.94060
1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0

Journal of Pressure Vessel Technology AUGUST 2006, Vol. 128 / 331

Fig. 6 Mechanical model representing sloshing in liquid stor-
age vessels
X共z,t兲 = Xg共t兲 + y共z,t兲 共19兲
Using an admissible function ␺共z兲, considering only the first
sloshing mode 共i.e., n = 1兲, and assuming a straightforward three-
dimensional generalization of the two-dimensional solution of the
nondeformed cylinder, the response of the coupled fluid-vessel
system under earthquake excitation can be approximated in a
simple and elegant manner through the equivalent mechanical
model shown in Fig. 8. The formulation and the development of
the model is described in detail in the Appendix.
The mechanical model of Fig. 8 indicates that the response is
governed by two frequencies, namely the fundamental sloshing
frequency ␻1, which represents sloshing liquid motion and is di-
rectly obtained from Table 1 共or Fig. 4兲, and the “deformation-
impulsive” frequency ␻⌬, which represents the motion due to con-
tainer deformation. Furthermore, the model indicates that the total
mass of the system MT is divided in three parts: a convective mass
M1C, which represents the low-frequency sloshing motion of the
liquid, an “impulsive” mass MI* that follows exactly the motion of
the container, and a “deformation-impulsive” mass M*⌬ expressing
container’s deformation 共a high-frequency motion兲. Masses M1C,
M*⌬, and MI* are defined in the Appendix. Thus, the total horizontal
force becomes
F = − M1Cÿ 1 − M⌬* ÿ 2 − MI*Ẍg 共20兲
3.3 Horizontal Cylinders Under Longitudinal Excitation.
There exist no analytical or numerical results for externally in-
duced sloshing in a horizontal cylinder under excitation Z共t兲 in the
longitudinal direction z 共Fig. 3兲. However, it has been shown ex-
perimentally 关20兴 that the sloshing response is similar to the slosh-
ing response of an equivalent rectangular container, which has the
same free-surface dimensions with the cylindrical vessel, and con-
tains the same liquid volume. Papaspyrou et al. 关29兴 presented a
numerical proof of this equivalence for the particular case of half-
full horizontal cylinders, comparing the corresponding sloshing
frequencies. Recently, this equivalence has been demonstrated for
Fig. 7 Beam-type deformation of a long horizontal cylinder
332 / Vol. 128, AUGUST 2006
Fig. 8 Mechanical model representing sloshing in a deform-
able horizontal cylindrical container
horizontal cylinders with arbitrary liquid depth, using a numerical
finite element formulation 关28兴. More specifically, setting the ex-
ternal excitation equal to zero 共Z共t兲 = 0兲 then ⌽U = 0, so that ⌽S
= ⌽ and the sloshing frequencies are determined by the solution of
a free-vibration 共eigen-value兲 problem. Solutions for the sloshing
potential ⌽ are sought in the following form
⬁
⌽= 兺
p=1,2,3,. . .
˜␸ p共x,y,t兲cos共k pz兲 共21兲
where k p = 共2p − 1兲␲ / L, p = 1 , 2 , 3 , . . ., so that the boundary condi-
tions at z = 0 and z = L are directly satisfied, and the solution is
antisymmetric with respect to the z = L / 2 plane. Subsequently, us-
ing the variational form of the problem and applying Galerkin
discretization in functions ␸ p in terms of triangular finite ele-
共p兲 共p兲
ments, the sloshing frequencies ␻n are calculated 共␻n the nth
frequency of the pth longitudinal mode兲, as described in detail in
关28兴. The numerical values for the sloshing frequencies are very
close to the the experimental values reported in 关19兴. Furthermore,
in Fig. 9, the sloshing frequencies, computed through the finite
element analysis, are compared with the corresponding values
from the equivalent rectangular container. The cross section of the
equivalent rectangular container is shown schematically in Fig.
10. The liquid height Heq of the equivalent rectangle can be easily
computed in terms of the cylinder diameter D = 2R and the liquid
height H in the cylinder 共0 艋 H 艋 2R兲, using simple geometric
considerations
Fig. 9 Variation of the fundamental sloshing frequency ␻1„1… in
a horizontal cylinder †longitudinal excitation‡, with respect to
the liquid depth; finite element results versus equivalent rect-
angle predictions
Transactions of the ASME
Fig. 10 Equivalent rectangular container concept to approxi-
mate the sloshing response of horizontal cylinders under lon-
gitudinal excitation

Heq 1
R
=
2
冋
共H/R − 1兲 +
sin−1共H/R − 1兲 + ␲/2
冑共H/R兲共2 − H/R兲 册 共22兲

According to sloshing solutions in rectangular containers 关19兴, the

following closed-form expressions can be used to calculate the
sloshing frequencies and the corresponding convective masses
␻
˜ 2pR 共2p − 1兲␲R
g
=
L
tanh
L
冋
共2p − 1兲␲Heq
册 p = 1,2,3, . . .

共23兲 Fig. 11 Variation of the first three sloshing frequencies of a

horizontal cylinder under longitudinal excitation, with respect
to the liquid height
M̃ pc 8 tanh关共2p − 1兲␲Heq/L兴
= p = 1,2,3, . . . 共24兲
ML 共Heq/L兲␲2共2p − 1兲3
where Heq is given by Eq. 共22兲, and the total force is ⌽S = ␸共r, ␪,t兲cos ␺ 共29兲
⬁ where coordinates r , ␪ , ␺ are defined in Fig. 14. Subsequently,
F = − MTZ̈ − 兺
p=1,2,3,. . .
M̃ pcd̈ p 共25兲 considering the variational form of the boundary-value problem
and assuming a discretization of ␸ in terms of harmonic functions,
the differential equations of motion are obtained, and sloshing
where dn are calculated from the corresponding equations of frequencies, modes, and masses are computed, as described in
motion 关27兴.
d̈ p + 2␰ p␻
˜ pḋ p + ␻
˜ 2pd p = − Z̈ p = 1,2,3, . . . 共26兲 In Table 3 and Fig. 15, numerical results are presented for the
normalized sloshing frequencies 共␭n = ␻2nR / g兲 of a spherical vessel
The dependence of normalized sloshing frequencies 共␻
˜ 2pR / g兲 in terms of the liquid height parameter 共e兲. The results are in very
and M̃ pc / ML 共p = 1 , 2 , 3 , . . . 兲 on the liquid depth within the cylin- good agreement with those from other numerical solutions 关25兴,
drical container are depicted in Figs. 11 and 12. Figure 13 shows
the dependence of the dominant sloshing frequency ␻共1兲 1 on the
aspect ratio L / R. In particular, for long containers with large val-
ues of aspect ratio L / R 共corresponding to Heq / L ⬍ 0.1兲 the rectan-
gular container can be considered “shallow” and the following
expressions for the sloshing frequencies and masses can be used
␻
˜ 2pL
g
= 共2p − 1兲2␲2
Heq
L
冉 冊 p = 1,2,3, . . . 共27兲

M̃ pc 8
= p = 1,2,3, . . . 共28兲
ML ␲2共2p − 1兲
Equations 共27兲 and 共28兲 and are directly obtained from Eqs. 共23兲
and 共24兲 and considering Heq / L → 0. Spring-mass mechanical
models for rectangular containers have been presented in 关1,19兴.

4 Spherical Vessels
In the following, the sloshing response of spherical vessels un-
der horizontal seismic excitation is examined, in terms of sloshing
frequencies and masses, employing the seminumerical results ob-
tained in 关27兴. Finally, the effects of support flexibility on the
overall seismic response are also investigated.

4.1 Nondeformable Spherical Vessel Under Horizontal Fig. 12 Variation of the first three sloshing masses of a hori-
Excitation. Due to the nature of the external excitation, solution zontal cylinder under longitudinal excitation, with respect to
for the sloshing potential ⌽S is sought in the following form the liquid height

Journal of Pressure Vessel Technology AUGUST 2006, Vol. 128 / 333

 Table 3 Variation of the first three sloshing frequencies with
respect to the liquid height in a spherical vessel

e ␻21R / g ␻22R / g ␻23R / g ␻24R / g

−1.0 1.0 7.0 17.0 31.0

−0.9 1.0347 6.5638 13.8911 26.757
−0.8 1.0723 6.2008 11.8764 17.032
−0.6 1.1583 5.6742 9.8543 13.866
−0.4 1.2625 5.3683 8.9418 12.421
−0.2 1.3924 5.2406 8.5509 11.800
0.0 1.5602 5.2756 8.5045 11.684
0.2 1.7882 5.4930 8.7793 12.021
0.4 2.1232 5.9729 9.4763 12.938
0.6 2.6864 6.9574 10.9566 14.918
0.8 3.9595 9.4551 14.7598 20.033
0.9 5.7615 13.1776 20.4520 27.702
0.95 8.3121 18.5527 28.6891 38.816
1.0 ¯ ¯ ¯ ¯

冋 M1C
0
0
MI
册冋 册 冋
ÿ 1
ÿ 2
+
KC − KC
− KC KC + Kbs
册冉冋 册 冋 册 冊
y1
y2
−
1
1
Xg = 0

Fig. 13 Variation of the first sloshing mass of a horizontal cyl-
inder under longitudinal excitation, with respect to the liquid
height and the aspect ratio of the container
as well as with experimental results reported in 关19兴. The
corresponding sloshing mass ratios M1C / ML , M2C / ML ,
兺MnC / ML , MI / ML are shown in Table 4 and in Fig. 16 in terms of
the liquid height. The values are similar to those depicted in Table
2 and Fig. 5 for horizontal cylinders. Higher mode masses 共n
艌 2兲 are generally much smaller than the first sloshing mass ratio
and, therefore, they may be neglected in seismic force calcula-
tions. Furthermore, the spring-mass mechanical model, shown in
Fig. 6, also applies for the spherical vessel. Finally, forces FC and
FI always pass through the center of the spherical container.
共32兲
where KC = ␻21M1C
and MI = MT − M1C. Equation 共32兲 corresponds
to a standard two-DOF mechanical system, shown in Fig. 18,
representing the coupled motion of the liquid-container system.
Support system stiffness Kbs should comprise the stiffness of the
columns and the stiffness of the X-braces, whereas damping can
be considered introducing a term proportional to the first time
derivatives of the unknown functions.
Conducting a standard eigenvalue analysis of the two-DOF me-
chanical system described in Eq. 共32兲, and using the fact that in
the majority of practical applications, KC Ⰶ Kbs, one readily results
in the following approximate expressions for the two natural fre-
quencies of the system
KC
␻共21兲 = ␻21 = 共33兲
M1C

4.2 Effects of Support Flexibility. Industrial spherical ves-

sels are supported by a structural system with vertical legs and
X-braces 共Fig. 17兲, which deforms with the sphere motion. As-
suming elastic behavior of the support system, the total horizontal
force including the inertia force of the container wall, should be
equilibrated by the force of the support system, so that
F = Kbs共X − Xg兲 共30兲
where Kbs is the elastic stiffness of the support system, X共t兲 is the
motion of the elevated container, and Xg共t兲 is the ground motion.
Subsequently, setting
y 1 = a1共t兲 + X共t兲 and y 2 = X共t兲 共31兲
and using Eq. 共10兲 for n = 1 共first sloshing mode only兲, and Eqs.
共30兲 and 共31兲, the following system of equations is obtained

Fig. 15 Variation of the first four sloshing frequencies of a

two-dimensional circular container with respect to liquid height
Fig. 14 Configuration of a spherical container „␭n = ␻2nR / g…, in a spherical container

334 / Vol. 128, AUGUST 2006 Transactions of the ASME

 Table 4 Variation of the first three sloshing masses with respect to the liquid height in a
spherical vessel. The values of ML refer to liquid only, excluding the mass of the container.

M1C M2C M3C M4C 兺MkC MI

e
ML ML ML ML ML ML

−1.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0

−0.95 0.98315 0.000102 0.0000005 0.0000000 0.98326 0.01674
−0.9 0.96594 0.000387 0.0000064 0.0000003 0.96634 0.03366
−0.8 0.93038 0.001374 0.0000667 0.0000104 0.93184 0.06816
−0.6 0.85437 0.004341 0.0005155 0.0001406 0.85947 0.14053
−0.4 0.77117 0.007850 0.0013969 0.0004640 0.78136 0.21864
−0.2 0.67990 0.011396 0.0025337 0.0009401 0.69619 0.30381
0.0 0.57969 0.014576 0.0037169 0.0014976 0.60594 0.39406
0.2 0.46981 0.016874 0.0047195 0.0020190 0.49844 0.50156
0.4 0.35009 0.017526 0.0052523 0.0023532 0.38440 0.61560
0.6 0.22222 0.015419 0.0048997 0.0022806 0.26162 0.73838
0.8 0.09363 0.009185 0.0031036 0.0014989 0.12608 0.87392
0.9 0.03655 0.004387 0.0015438 0.0007635 0.05586 0.94414
0.95 0.01364 0.001851 0.0006696 0.0003361 0.01810 0.98190
1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0

Kbs FC,max = M1Cü1,max 共36兲

␻共22兲 ⬟ ␻I2 = 共34兲
MI
and that the masses corresponding to ␻1 and ␻1 are M1C and MI,
respectively, so that the total force is
F = − M1Cÿ 1 − MIÿ 2 共35兲
5 Seismic Design Applications
In the following, the calculation of the seismic design force is
described using the models presented in the previous sections. The
methodology is illustrated in three design examples, which refer
to typical cylindrical and spherical pressure vessels.
5.1 Combination of Convective and Impulsive Forces. An
important issue toward the calculation of the seismic design force
is the calculation of the maximum convective force FC,max. Using
only the first mode 共n = 1兲 in Eq. 共16兲, then
If higher modes are used, then an appropriate combination of
the maximum modal values Fnc,max = Mncün,max is necessary. Nev-
ertheless, numerical calculations of hydrodynamic forces in hori-
zontal cylinders and spheres 关27兴 showed that consideration of the
first mode only may provide a very accurate prediction of the
convective force. Furthermore, in the course of a design proce-
dure, the ü1,max value in Eq. 共36兲 is replaced by the corresponding
spectral value SA. Subsequently, the maximum convective force
FC,max and the maximum impulsive force
FI,max = MIAg 共37兲
should be combined to provide the seismic design force FD 共Ag is
the peak ground acceleration兲. For simplicity, the seismic design
force can be calculated through the SRSS combination method, as
suggested by Eurocode 8
FD = 冑共FC,max兲2 + 共MIAg兲2 共38兲
Alternatively, the sum of the impulsive and convective maximum
values, as suggested in API 650 关2兴, can be employed.
5.2 Horizontal-Cylindrical Vessel I. A horizontal-cylindrical
steel vessel containing liquid with density ␳ = 600 kgr/ m3, is 6 m
long, with external diameter and thickness equal to 2 m and 2 cm,
respectively. Due to the low value of the container’s aspect ratio
共L / R = 6兲, deformation under transverse excitation can be ne-
glected. For design purposes, the following elastic design spec-
trum is used

0 艋 T 艋 0.15 s: 冋
SA共T兲 = Ag 1 +
T
0.15
共2.5␩ − 1兲 册 共39兲

0.15 s 艋 T 艋 0.60 s: SA共T兲 = 2.5Ag␩ 共40兲

Fig. 16 Variation of sloshing and impulsive mass ratios mass

ratios M1C / ML, M2C / ML, ⌺MkC / ML, MI / ML with respect to liquid Fig. 17 Deformation and equilibrium of support system in
height in a spherical container spherical containers

Journal of Pressure Vessel Technology AUGUST 2006, Vol. 128 / 335

Fig. 18 Mechanical model representing sloshing in an el-
evated spherical container

1
T 艌 0.6 s: SA共T兲 = 1.5Ag␩ 共41兲
T
where T is the natural period of the oscillator in seconds, and ␩ is
a damping coefficient, given in terms of the damping ratio ␰ by
␩ = 冑7/共2 + ␰兲 共42兲
The above spectrum is taken directly from Eurocode 8 关30兴, ENV
1998-1-1 共CEN 1994兲, paragraph 4.2.2, assuming subsoil class B,
Fig. 19 Elastic design spectrum „normalized…, from Eurocode
and importance factor equal to 1, and it is shown graphically in 8 for soil class B, importance factor equal to 1, and two differ-
Fig. 19 for different values of damping. ent damping ration „0.5% and 2%…
First, consider the cylinder to be half-full and excited in the
transverse direction, with a peak ground acceleration Ag = 0.24 g.
The liquid mass and the container’s shell mass are ML = 5.43
⫻ 103 kg, and MSH = 5.82⫻ 103 kg, respectively 共density of steel parison of the impulsive and convective forces shows that the
is 7800 kg/ m3兲. From Table 2 共or equivalently, Fig. 5兲, MC former is significantly larger, due to the mass of the container,
= 0.595ML = 3.23⫻ 103 kg, and therefore, MI = ML + MSH − MC which constitutes a substantial part of the impulsive mass, and
because of the small values of ␻1, which correspond to relatively
= 8.02⫻ 103 kg. From Table 1 共or equivalently, Fig. 4兲, ␻21R / g
small spectral values SA共T兲.
= 1.356, so that ␻1 = 3.684 rad/ s, the first natural period is T1
= 1.71 s and 关from Eq. 共41兲兴 the corresponding spectral accelera- The half-full cylinder 共e = 0兲 is also examined under longitudi-
tion value for 1% damping is SA = 3.163 m / s2. It is assumed that nal excitation with Ag = 0.24 g. For e = 0, one obtains Heq / R
the entire convective mass MC corresponds to this fundamental = 0.785. Using Eqs. 共23兲 and 共24兲, and assuming 1% damping, one
frequency. Therefore, using Eqs. 共36兲 and 共37兲, the maximum con- obtains the sloshing frequencies, periods, spectral values, and the
vective and impulsive forces are computed equal to 10.22 and corresponding masses, depicted in Table 6. The impulsive mass is
18.89 kN, respectively. In addition, using Eq. 共38兲, the seismic M̃I = ML + MSH − ⌺ pM̃ pc = 6.664⫻ 103 kg. Using those values, the
design force is equal to 29.11 kN. Using the same methodology, design convective forces F1C,maxF2C,max, and F3C,max are 5.09,
the impulsive, convective, and total seismic forces for different 1.04, and 0.36 kN, respectively, and the impulsive force FI,max is
liquid levels are shown in the last three columns of Table 5. Com- 15.69 kN. Finally, using a SRSS combination of the above four

Table 5 Impulsive, convective, and total force in the nondeformable horizontal cylinder of Design Example I for different posi-
tions of the liquid surface

␻1 ML MT MC MI SA 共T兲 M IA g M CS A FD
e 共rad/s兲 共103 kg兲 共103 kg兲 共103 kg兲 共103 kg兲 共m / s2兲 共kN兲 共kN兲 共kN兲

−0.8 3.232 0.565 6.39 0.521 5.87 2.78 13.81 1.45 13.89
−0.6 3.314 1.55 7.37 1.30 6.06 2.85 14.28 3.71 14.75
−0.4 3.412 2.74 8.56 2.09 6.47 2.93 15.23 6.13 16.42
−0.2 3.532 4.06 9.88 2.76 7.11 3.03 16.75 8.38 18.73
0.0 3.684 5.43 11.25 3.23 8.02 3.16 18.89 10.22 21.47
0.2 3.885 6.81 12.63 3.43 9.19 3.34 21.65 11.44 24.49
0.4 4.167 8.12 13.94 3.31 10.63 3.58 25.03 11.84 27.69
0.6 4.611 9.32 15.14 2.81 12.33 3.96 29.02 11.12 31.08
0.8 5.500 10.30 16.12 1.86 14.25 4.72 33.56 8.80 34.70

Table 6 Sloshing frequencies, masses, and spectral values for cylindrical vessel I, under
longitudinal excitation

p ␻
˜ 2pR / g ␻
˜ p 共rad/s兲 T p 共s兲 SAp 共m / s2兲 M̃ pc / ML M̃ pc 共kg兲

1 0.204 1.422 4.419 1.221 0.768 4.170⫻ 103

2 1.325 3.624 1.734 3.111 0.062 0.335⫻ 103
3 2.533 5.011 1.254 4.301 0.015 0083⫻ 103

336 / Vol. 128, AUGUST 2006 Transactions of the ASME

Fig. 20 Configuration for half-full long cylindrical pressure
vessel
values, one obtains a design force FD equal to 16.53 kN, whereas
consideration of the first mode only results in a seismic design
force FD equal to 16.49 kN. Clearly, consideration of the first
sloshing mass only provides very good results.
5.3 Design Example II: Horizontal-Cylindrical Vessel II.
An 18-m-long horizontal-cylindrical steel vessel is considered,
which contains liquid with density ␳ = 600 kg/ m3, with external
diameter and thickness equal to 2 m and 2 cm, respectively. The
vessel configuration is schematically shown in Fig. 20. Due to the
relatively high value of the container’s aspect ratio L / R, deforma-
tion under transverse excitation should be taken into consider-
ation. A finite element analysis of the empty vessel, using standard
shell elements, has shown that a beam-type mode is the dominant
mode for external excitation in the transverse direction.
For design purposes, the elastic design spectrum defined in Eqs.
共39兲–共41兲 is used. The container’s mass per unit length is mSH
= MSH / L = 970.3 kg/ m and the liquid mass per unit length is mL
= 905 kg/ m. To describe the deformation of the container, the
following assumed function is considered
␲z
␺共z兲 = sin − 0.342 共43兲
L Kbs = 1.56⫻ 106 kN/ m.
so that ␺ = 0 at z = 2 m and z = 16 m. Using Eqs. 共A12兲 and 共A13兲
for half-full container, the values of Table 7 are calculated.
Furthermore, using Eq. 共A28兲, one finds the values of MI* and
M*⌬ equal to 12.56⫻ 103 kg and 11.51⫻ 103 kg, respectively, as
well as the value of Kb = 106,980 kN/ m from Eq. 共A14兲. For half-
full container, ␻21R / g = 1.356, so that ␻1 = 3.684 rad/ s, the first
natural period is T1 = 1.71 s and 共from Eq. 共41兲兲 the corresponding
spectral value for 1% damping is SA = 3.163 m / s2. The “deforma-
tion” frequency ␻⌬ is computed from Eq. 共A16兲 equal to
156.5 rad/ s, corresponding to a period of 0.040 s. Therefore, the
convective, impulsive, and deformation forces are 30.66, 29.56,
and 43.75 kN. Using a SRSS combination of the maximum
forces, the seismic design force is equal to 61.06 kN.
5.4 Spherical Pressure Vessel. A steel pressure vessel of
spherical shape 共Fig. 21兲 has diameter D = 21,216 mm and thick-
ness t = 43 mm, and contains propylene 共density ␳ = 553 kg/ m3兲.
The mass of the empty vessel is MSH = 0.472⫻ 106 kg. The vessel
is supported by 12 tubular 쏗1160 mm⫻ 60 mm legs with effec-
tive height hL = 9.2 m and X braces of rectangular section
共250 mm⫻ 35 mm兲 and effective length Lb = 8.2 m, inclined
60 deg with respect to the ground. An approximate expression for
calculating the support stiffness is
Table 7 Masses and generalized masses for horizontal cylin-
der II
Convective masses Total masses Impulsive masses
共103 kg兲 共103 kg兲 共103 kg兲
MC 9.693 MT 33.757 MI 24.064
MC 2.856 MT 9.945 MI 7.089
M C⬘ 1.759 M T⬘ 6.127 M I⬘ 4.368
Journal of Pressure Vessel Technology
Fig. 21 Spherical vessel of design example
NL Nb
兺
12EIL
兺
EAb
Kbs = + cos2 ak cos2 ␤ 共44兲
j=1 hL3 k=1 Lb
where hL and IL are the height and the moment of inertia of the
columns, respectively, Ab and Lb are the cross-sectional area and
the length of the braces, NL is the number of vertical columns
共legs兲, Nb is the number of braces in tension, ␣k is the horizontal
angle between each brace 共k兲 and the earthquake excitation, and ␤
is the brace inclination with respect to the ground. In addition,
fixed-fixed conditions for the vertical legs have been assumed.
Using Eq. 共44兲, the stiffness of the support system is estimated
If the vessel is half-full 共e = 0兲, the liquid mass is ML = 1.366
⫻ 106 kg so that the total moving mass is MT = 1.838⫻ 106 kg.
From Table 4, the convective mass is MC = 0.828⫻ 106 kg and the
impulsive mass is MI = MT − MC = 1.010⫻ 106 kg. Using Table 3,
the first convective eigen-period T1C is found equal to 5.22 s, and
using Eq. 共34兲 the “impulsive” eigenperiod TI is 0.16 s. Using the
earthquake spectrum defined by Eqs. 共39兲–共41兲, the corresponding
spectral values for the impulsive and the first convective period
are SAI共TI兲 = 7.786 m / s2 共for 2% damping兲 and SA1共TC兲
= 1.033 m / s2 共for 1% damping兲. Therefore, the seismic design
shear force FD is computed using a SRSS combination
FD = 冑共MCSA1兲2 + 共MISAI兲2 = 7.91 MN 共45兲
The force passes through the sphere centroid, located at a height
14.32 m from the ground. Thus, the overturning moment with
respect to the ground level is 113.3 MN m.
Finally, the last three columns of Table 8 show the maximum
convective force, the impulsive force, and the total design force
for different liquid levels within the container, using the same
methodology.
6 Conclusions
A methodology is presented for calculating the total horizontal
seismic force in horizontal-cylindrical and spherical vessels, in-
cluding the effects of sloshing. The proposed methodology is
based mainly on a “convective”—“impulsive” decomposition of
the liquid-vessel motion, and a semianalytical solution of sloshing
in nondeformable containers, presented by the authors in a previ-
ous publication. In all cases, equivalent mechanical 共spring-mass兲
models are proposed, which represent the response of the liquid-
vessel system.
In both horizontal cylinders and spheres, due to the fact that the
first convective mass is significantly larger than higher mode
masses, the convective force can be estimated using the first
AUGUST 2006, Vol. 128 / 337
 Table 8 Impulsive, convective, and total force in the sphere of Design Example III for different positions of the liquid surface

␻I ␻l ML MT MC MI SI 共T兲 SA 共T兲 M IS I M CS A FD
e 共rad/s兲 共rad/s兲 共106 kg兲 共106 kg兲 共106 kg兲 共106 kg兲 共m / s2兲 共m / s2兲 共MN兲 共MN兲 共MN兲

−0.8 57.17 1.00 0.076 0.549 0.071 0.477 6.334 0.857 3.023 0.061 3.023
−0.6 55.20 1.04 0.284 0.756 0.244 0.512 6.476 0.890 3.315 0.217 3.322
−0.4 50.95 1.08 0.590 1.062 0.461 0.601 6.821 0.930 4.099 0.429 4.122
−0.2 45.18 1.14 0.962 1.434 0.669 0.764 7.390 0.976 5.647 0.654 5.685
0.0 39.30 1.20 1.366 1.838 0.828 1.010 7.786 1.033 7.866 0.855 7.912
0.2 33.87 1.29 1.770 2.242 0.882 1.360 7.786 1.106 10.588 0.976 10.633
0.4 29.52 1.40 2.141 2.614 0.823 1.790 7.786 1.206 13.941 0.992 13.976
0.6 26.16 1.58 2.448 2.920 0.640 2.279 7.786 1.356 17.747 0.868 17.768
0.8 23.64 1.92 2.655 3.128 0.335 2.792 7.786 1.646 21.743 0.551 21.750

sloshing mode only. Inclusion of higher modes may not increase Mnc ⫽ convective mass of nth sloshing mode
significantly the accuracy of the results. For the particular case of M*⌬ , MI* ⫽ deformation and impulsive mass in deformable
long horizontal cylinders under transverse excitation, deformation horizontal cylinders 共Appendix兲
of the container’s wall may affect the response. Assuming a beam-
M̃I , M̃nc ⫽ impulsive mass and nth mode convective mass
type deformation, it is possible to estimate those deformation ef-
共equivalent rectangle兲
fects, through a simplified liquid-container interaction model. Fur-
thermore, the response of horizontal cylinders under longitudinal M C M C⬘ M TM T⬘ ⫽ generalized masses, defined in Eqs. 共A12兲 and
excitation can be examined quite accurately using the concept of 共A13兲
“equivalent rectangular container.” Finally, in the case of spherical MI ⫽ MT − MC
containers, the deformation effects of the support system are taken M I⬘ ⫽ M T⬘ − M C⬘
into account through a simplified 2DOF model. The above issues r , ␪ , z ⫽ cylindrical coordinates
are illustrated in three typical design examples. Due to the fact r , ␪ , ␺ ⫽ spherical coordinates
that sloshing is a low-frequency motion, the corresponding spec- R ⫽ radius of cylinder or sphere
tral values are small, and the impulsive part of the total seismic SA(T) ⫽ spectral acceleration value
force dominates the response. un ⫽ an + X
The proposed methodology offers a simple and efficient tool to ug ⫽ ag + Xg
calculate seismic forces in horizontal-cylindrical and spherical Xg ⫽ ground displacement
vessels, it is compatible with the corresponding methodology in X, ⫽ container total displacement
existing specifications for vertical liquid storage tanks 共e.g., y共z , t兲 ⫽ container deformation displacement
关2,15兴兲, and can be used for the seismic design of industrial y 1 , y 2 ⫽ degrees of freedom in equivalent mechanical
vessels. models
Z ⫽ ground displacement in the longitudinal direc-
Acknowledgment tion of a cylinder
This work was partially supported by the Earthquake Planning ␤ ⫽ deformation shape parameter, depending on the
and Protection Organization 共E.P.P.O.兲, Athens, Greece. The au- assumed shape function ␺ 共Eq. 共A24兲兲
thors would also like to thank Mrs. Sotiria Houliara, Graduate ⌬ ⫽ generalized deformation parameter of a
Student at the University of Thessaly, for her assistance in the ⌬T ⫽ ␤⌬ + Xg
finite element analysis of the horizontal-cylindrical vessel. ␩ ⫽ damping parameter for design spectrum
␭n ⫽ ␻2nR / g
Nomenclature ␰n ⫽ damping ratio of nth mode
an ⫽ generalized sloshing coordinate ˜␸ p共x , y , t兲 ⫽ two-dimensional sloshing potential correspond-
ag , a ⫽ generalized sloshing coordinates due to ground ing to the pth longitudinal mode
motion and vessel deformation ⌽ ⫽ liquid potential
ā1共z , t兲 ⫽ ag + ␺a ⌽S , ⌽U ⫽ sloshing and uniform motion potential
Ag ⫽ peak ground acceleration ␺共z兲 ⫽ assumed shape function for vessel deformation
d p ⫽ generalized sloshing coordinate 共equivalent ⌿n ⫽ mode shape of the nth sloshing mode
rectangle兲 ␻n ⫽ nth sloshing frequency
f共z , t兲 ⫽ force per unit length along a horizontal ␻共p兲
n ⫽ nth sloshing frequency the pth longitudinal
cylinder mode
F ⫽ total horizontal force ␻
˜ 2p ⫽ sloshing frequency of pth mode 共equivalent
FI FC ⫽ impulsive and convective forces rectangle兲
FD ⫽ design seismic force ␻⌬ ⫽ natural frequency of sphere due to support
H , Heq ⫽ liquid height and liquid height of equivalent flexibility
rectangle
k p ⫽ 共2p − 1兲␲ / L
KC ⫽ ␻21M1C
Kb ⫽ generalized stiffness defined in Eq. 共A14兲 Appendix: Simplified Fluid-Vessel Interaction for Long
Kbs ⫽ support stiffness in spherical vessels Cylinders Under Transverse Excitation
L ⫽ length of horizontal cylinder It is possible to estimate the effects of wall deformation on the
ML ⫽ liquid mass fluid-vessel system response, using a simplified formulation. This
MI , MC ⫽ impulsive and convective masses method has been introduced for half-full cylinders in 关31兴, and
MSH ⫽ empty vessel mass herein, it is reformulated for the case of arbitrary liquid height,
MT ⫽ MSH + ML within the cylindrical container. In addition, an equivalent me-

338 / Vol. 128, AUGUST 2006 Transactions of the ASME

chanical two-DOF model is developed for the case of earthquake f共z,t兲 = − mCäg − mTẌg − mC␺共z兲ä − mT␺共z兲⌬¨ 共A7兲
共high-frequency兲 excitation, which illustrates the coupled liquid-
vessel response in an elegant manner. Equilibrium of the beam-like container requires that
Industrial horizontal-cylindrical vessels are rather thick, with
radius-to-thickness ratio less than 80, to resist high levels of in-
ternal pressure. When such vessels are relatively short 共L / R
艋 12兲, a common case in practice, it is reasonable to assume that
EI 冉 冊
⳵4y
⳵z4
= f共z,t兲 共A8兲

the vessel wall is nondeformable 共rigid兲, a basic assumption of the
above-described methodology. In longer cylindrical vessels, wall
deformation occurs that may affect the seismic response. As a first
approximation and for the sake of simplicity, a beam-type defor-
mation of the container is considered, neglecting local 共shell-type兲
where EI is the bending stiffness of the beam-like cylinder. Using
an admissible trial function w共z兲, the weak form of the above
equilibrium equation is obtained
冕 冕
L L

modes, while the cylinder cross section remains circular 共unde-
formed兲 due to its significant thickness. Thus, the motion of the
cylindrical container is directly determined by the motion of the
cylinder axis, which is decomposed in two parts 共Fig. 7兲, the
motion of the supports Xg共t兲, independent of z coordinate, and the
motion due to the deformation of the container described by a
function y共z , t兲, as expressed in Eq. 共19兲. Furthermore, an admis-
sible function ␺共z兲 is considered for the beam-type deformation of
the cylindrical container in Eq. 共19兲
y共z,t兲 = ␺共z兲⌬共t兲 共A1兲
so that the deformable vessel becomes a generalized single-
degree-of-freedom system. In such a case the vessel undergoes a
nonuniform motion with respect to z coordinate and the sloshing
solution is three-dimensional. Nevertheless, in the majority of
practical applications, the principal sloshing frequency ␻1 is sig-
EIy ⬙共z,t兲w⬙共z兲dz = f Tw共z兲dz 共A9兲
0 0
where 共 兲⬙ denotes double differentiation with respect to z. Ap-
proximating the trial function as follow
w共z兲 = Aw␺共z兲 共A10兲
where Aw is an arbitrary number, using Eqs. 共A7兲, 共A9兲, and
共A10兲, and introducing a term proportional to ⌬˙ to account for
structural damping, one obtains
M Cäg + M TẌg + M C⬘ ä + M T⬘ ⌬¨ + Cb⌬˙ + Kb⌬ = 0 共A11兲
where the “generalized masses” M C, M T, M C⬘ , and M T⬘ , and the
“generalized bending stiffness” Kb are given by

冕 冕
nificantly smaller than the fundamental frequency of the container L L
and, therefore, it can be assumed that the two-dimensional slosh-
M C = mC ␺共z兲dz M T = mT ␺共z兲dz 共A12兲
ing solution for the nondeformable container described in the pre-
0 0
vious section and expressed in the form of Eq. 共10兲 and 共11兲, is

冕 冕
still valid for every cross section. More specifically, for the cross
L L
section corresponding to coordinate z, the following equation is
considered for the first mode 共n = 1兲 which is analogous to Eq. M C⬘ = mC ␺2共z兲dz M T⬘ = mT ␺2共z兲dz 共A13兲
共10兲 0 0

冕
⳵2ā1 ⳵ā1 ⳵ 2X L
2 + 2 ␰ 1␻ 1 + ␻21ā1 = − 2 共A2兲
⳵t ⳵t ⳵t Kb = EI ␺⬙2共z兲dz 共A14兲
0
where ā1 = ā1共z , t兲, ␻1 is the first sloshing frequency and ␰1 is the
corresponding damping ratio. Equation 共A2兲 contains two un- and Cb is a damping coefficient.
knowns, namely the sloshing motion ā1 = ā1共z , t兲 and the motion Equations 共A5兲, 共A6兲, and 共A11兲 are the equations of motion of
of the container ⌬共t兲, and, therefore, the dynamic interaction be- the coupled liquid-vessel system, expressing the dynamic interac-
tween the liquid motion and the deformed vessel should be con- tion between the liquid and the vessel. Setting X共t兲 = 0, the three
sidered. The force per unit length f along the cylinder is given by natural frequencies ␻共i兲 of the undamped coupled fluid-vessel sys-
an equation analogous to Eq. 共12兲 tem 共␰S = Cb = 0兲 can be calculated. The first natural frequency ␻共1兲
⳵2ā1 ⳵ 2X is directly calculated from the first equation of motion 共A5兲 equal
f共z,t兲 = − mC 2 − mT 2 共A3兲 to ␻1. Furthermore, using the fact that in practical applications
⳵t ⳵t
␻21 Ⰶ Kb / M T⬘ , the following simple expressions can be obtained for
where mC = M1C / L and mT = MT / L are the convective and total ␻共2兲 and ␻共3兲
mass per unit length, respectively, and the value of M1C is given in
Fig. 4. Note that both mC and mT are constant along the cylinder. ␻共22兲 ⯝ ␻21 共A15兲
From Eqs. 共19兲 and 共A1兲, the unknown sloshing function
ā1共z , t兲 is the sum of two parts, one corresponding to the ground
motion ag共t兲 and the other ␺共z兲a共t兲 corresponding to the vessel Kb Kb
␻共23兲 ⬟ ␻⌬2 ⯝ = 共A16兲
motion relative to the ground motion M T⬘ − M C⬘ M I⬘
ā1共z,t兲 = ag共t兲 + ␺共z兲a共t兲 共A4兲 where M I⬘ = M T⬘ − M C⬘ in Eq. 共A16兲 can be regarded as a “general-
so that the unknown functions ag共t兲 and a共t兲 satisfy ized impulsive mass,” analogous to MI in Eq. 共15兲. Following the
definition of ␻⌬, which expresses the motion of the generalized
äg + 2␰1␻1ȧg + ␻21ag = − Ẍg 共A5兲 impulsive mass M I⬘, the damping coefficient can be computed as
follows
¨
ä + 2␰1␻1ȧ + ␻21a = − ⌬ 共A6兲
Cb = 2␰b␻⌬M I⬘ 共A17兲
In the above equations, a共t兲 expresses the effects of wall defor-
mation on sloshing, and the dot denotes derivative with respect to where ␰b is the structural damping ratio.
time. Furthermore, from Eqs. 共A3兲–共A6兲, the total lateral force per The total force on the vessel wall 共including the inertia force of
unit length of the cylinder at cross-section z is the container兲 is computed as follows

Journal of Pressure Vessel Technology AUGUST 2006, Vol. 128 / 339

 冕
L 关2兴 American Petroleum Institute, 1995, “Seismic Design of Storage Tanks—
F= f共z,t兲dz = − MC共äg + Ẍg兲 − MIẌg − M C共ä + ⌬¨ 兲 − M I⌬¨ Appendix E,” Welded Steel Tanks for Oil Storage, API Standard 650, Wash-
ington, D C.
0 关3兴 Veletsos, A. S., and Yang, J. Y., 1977, “Earthquake Response of Liquid Stor-
共A18兲 age Tanks,” 2nd Engineering Mechanics Conference, ASCE, Raleigh, NC, pp.
1–24.
where MI = MT − MC and M I = M T − M C. A simplification of the 关4兴 Haroun, M. A., and Housner, G. W., 1981, “Seismic Design of Liquid Storage
Tanks,” Journal of the Technical Councils, ASCE, 107共1兲, pp. 191–207.
above formulation is possible assuming that the contribution of
关5兴 Haroun, M. A., 1983, “Vibration Studies and Tests of Liquid Storage Tanks,”
container deformation on sloshing a共t兲 is negligible. Therefore Earthquake Eng. Struct. Dyn., 11, pp. 179–206.
from Eq. 共A6兲, ä + ⌬¨ = 0, and the force equation 共A7兲 becomes 关6兴 Niwa, A., and Clough, R. W., 1982, “Buckling of Cylindrical Liquid-Storage
Tanks Under Earthquake Excitation,” Earthquake Eng. Struct. Dyn., 10, pp.
107–122.
F ⯝ − MC共äg + Ẍg兲 − MIẌg − M I⌬¨ 共A19兲 关7兴 Manos, G. C., and Clough, R. W., 1982, “Further Study of the Earthquake
On the other hand, Eq. 共A11兲, which expresses the motion of the Response of a Broad Cylindrical Liquid-Storage Tank Model,” Report No.
UCB/EERC-82/7, University of California, Berkeley.
container, can be written as follows 关8兴 Fisher, F. D., 1979, “Dynamic Fluid Effects in Liquid-Filled Flexible Cylin-
drical Tanks,” Earthquake Eng. Struct. Dyn., 7, pp. 587–601.
M I⬘⌬¨ + Cb⌬˙ + Kb⌬ = − M C共äg + Ẍg兲 − M IẌg 共A20兲 关9兴 Natsiavas, S., 1988, “An Analytical Model for Unanchored Fluid-Filled Tanks
Under Base Excitation,” ASME J. Appl. Mech., 55, pp. 648–653.
Furthermore, in the case of high-frequency excitation Xg共t兲, one 关10兴 Peek, R., 1988, “Analysis of Unanchored Liquid Storage Tanks Under Lateral
can easily show that the amplitude of äg + Ẍg is very small when Loads,” Earthquake Eng. Struct. Dyn., 16, pp. 1087–1100.
关11兴 Rammerstorfer, F. G., Fisher, F. D., and Scharf, K., 1988, “A Proposal for the
compared with the amplitude of Ẍg. Therefore, the above equation Earthquake Resistant Design of Tanks—Results from the Austrian Project,”
of motion can be written approximately as follows Proceedings of the Ninth World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, To-
kyo, Japan, Vol. VI, pp. 715–720.
关12兴 Veletsos, A. S., and Tang, Y., 1990, “Soil-Structure Interaction Effects for
M I⬘⌬
¨ +C ⌬
˙
b + Kb⌬ = − M IẌg 共A21兲 Laterally Excited Liquid Storage Tanks,” Earthquake Eng. Struct. Dyn., 19,
Subsequently, setting pp. 473–496.
关13兴 Malhotra, P. K., 1995, “Base Uplifting Analysis of Flexibly Supported Liquid-
ug = ag + Xg 共A22兲 Storage Tanks,” Earthquake Eng. Struct. Dyn., 24共12兲, pp. 1591–1607.
关14兴 Fisher, F. D., Rammerstorfer, F. G., and Scharf, K., 1991, “Earthquake Resis-
tant Design of Anchored and Unanchored Liquid Storage Tanks Under Three-
⌬T = ␤⌬ + Xg 共A23兲 Dimensional Earthquake Excitation,” Structural Dynamics—Recent Advances,
where edited by G. I. Schueller, Springer, Berlin, pp. 317–371.
关15兴 Comité Européen de Normalization, 1998, “Part 4: Silos, tanks and pipelines,”

冕
L Eurocode 8, part 4, Annex A, CEN ENV-1998-4, Brussels.
␺2 dz 关16兴 Rammerstorfer, F. G., Fisher, F. D., and Scharf, K., 1990, “Storage Tanks
Under Earthquake Loading,” Appl. Mech. Rev., 43共11兲, pp. 261–283.
0
␤= 关17兴 Priestley, M. J. N., 共Chairman and Editor兲, Davidson, B. J., Honey, G. D.,

冕
L 共A24兲
Hopkins, D. C., Martin, R. J., Ramsey, G., Vessey, J. V., and Wood, J. H.,
␺ dz 1986, “Seismic Design of Storage Tanks,” Recommendations of a Study
0
Group of the New Zealand National Society for Earthquake Engineering.
关18兴 Budiansky, B., 1960, “Sloshing of Liquids in Circular Canals and Spherical
the equations of motion 共A5兲 and 共A21兲 and the total force equa- Tanks,” J. Aerosp. Sci., 27共3兲, pp. 161–173.
tion 共A19兲 become 关19兴 Abramson, H. N., 1966, “The Dynamic Behavior of Liquids in Moving Con-
tainers,” Southwest Research Institute, NASA SP-106, Washington, DC.
üg + ␻21共ug − Xg兲 = 0 共A25兲 关20兴 Kobayashi, N., Mieda, T., Shibata, H., and Shinozaki, Y., 1989, “A Study of
the Liquid Slosh Response in Horizontal Cylindrical Tanks,” ASME J. Pres-
sure Vessel Technol., 111共1兲, pp. 32–38.
¨ + ␻2 共⌬ − X 兲 = 0
⌬ 共A26兲 关21兴 Chu, W.-H., 1964, “Fuel Sloshing in a Spherical tank Filled to an Arbitrary
T ⌬ T g
Depth,” AIAA J., 2共11兲, pp. 1972–1979.
关22兴 Moiseev, N. N., and Petrov, A. A., 1966, “The Calculation of Free Oscillations
F = − MCüg − M ⌬* ⌬¨ T − M I*Ẍg 共A27兲 of a Liquid in a Motionless Container,” Adv. Appl. Mech., 9, pp. 91–154.
关23兴 Fox, D. W., and Kutler, J. R., 1981, “Upper and Lower Bounds for Sloshing
where Frequencies by Intermediate Problems,” Journal of Applied Mathematics and
Physics 共ZAMP兲, 32, pp. 667–682.
M I2 M I2 关24兴 Fox, D. W., and Kutler, J. R., 1983, “Sloshing Frequencies,” Journal of Ap-
M⌬* = and MI* = MI − 共A28兲
M I⬘ M I⬘ plied Mathematics and Physics 共ZAMP兲, 34, pp. 669–696.
关25兴 McIver, P., 1989, “Sloshing Frequencies for Cylindrical and Spherical Con-
Obviously tainers Filled to an Arbitrary Depth,” J. Fluid Mech., 201, pp. 243–257.
关26兴 McIver, P., and McIver, M., 1993, “Sloshing Frequencies of Longitudinal
M⌬* + MI* + MC = MT 共A29兲 Modes for a Liquid Contained in a Trough,” J. Fluid Mech., 252, pp. 525–541.
关27兴 Patkas, L., and Karamanos, S. A., 2005, “Variational Solutions of Externally-
Equation 共A29兲 shows that the total mass of the liquid-container Induced Sloshing in Horizontal-Cylindrical and Spherical Vessels,” Journal of
MT system is divided in three parts. The first part is a convective Engineering Mechanics, ASCE, submitted.
mass MC, which represents the sloshing motion of the liquid, the 关28兴 Platyrrachos, M. A., and Karamanos, S. A., 2005, “Finite Element Analysis of
Sloshing in Horizontal-Cylindrical Industrial Vessels under Earthquake Load-
second part is an “impulsive” mass M*⌬ that expresses container’s ing.” Pressure Vessel and Piping Conference, ASME, PVP2005-71499, Den-
deformation, and the third part is another “impulsive” mass MI* ver, CO.
that follows the motion of the container. Furthermore, Eqs. 关29兴 Papaspyrou, S., Valougeorgis, D., and Karamanos, S. A., 2004a, “Sloshing
Effects in Half-Full Horizontal Cylindrical Vessels Under Longitudinal Exci-
共A25兲–共A29兲 motivate the equivalent mechanical model shown in tation,” ASME J. Appl. Mech., 71共2兲, pp. 255–265.
Fig. 8 with parameters y 1 = ug共t兲, y 2 = ⌬T共t兲, y 3 = Xg共t兲. 关30兴 Comité Européen de Normalization, 1994, “Part 1-1: General Rules—Seismic
Actions and General Requirements of Structures,” Eurocode 8, part 1-1, CEN
ENV-1998-1-1, Brussels.
References 关31兴 Papaspyrou, S., Karamanos, S. A., and Valougeorgis, D., 2004b, “Response of
关1兴 Housner, G. W., 1957, “Dynamic Pressures on Accelerated Fluid Containers,” Half Full Horizontal Cylinders Under Transverse Excitation,” J. Fluids Struct.,
Bull. Seismol. Soc. Am., 47, pp. 15–35. 19共7兲, pp. 985–1003.

340 / Vol. 128, AUGUST 2006 Transactions of the ASME

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