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Analysis and Computational Design of Water Tank Structure

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Analysis and Computational Design of
Water Tank Structure
Prof. Mainak Ghosal

Abstract
Every design comes out when there is a problem. A design
is created to solve the existing problems. People in the
region where there is scarcity of water, don't get enough
flow or speed or discharge especially those living on the
upper floors in a multi-storied building. As a consequence
people suffer from lack of water due to insufficient supply
Prof. Mainak Ghosal for compensating their daily needs. As a first solution of
Jt. Secretrary, this problem, one needs to develop a water storage project
Coal Ash Institute of India as has been designed with the help of STAAD principles,
known as Overhead Water Reservoir.
The present study reports the analysis and design of an
elevated circular water tank using STAAD. Pro V8i. The
design involves load calculations manually and analyzing
the whole structure by STAAD. Pro V8i. The design
method used in STAAD. Pro analysis is Limit State Design
and the water tank is subjected to wind load, dead load, self
– weight and hydrostatic load due to water.
Keywords : Design; Problem; Tank; Water
1. Introduction
In India, water has been an object of worship from time
immemorial but in recent years, water issues have been the
focus of increasing concern and debate. The NITI Aayog,
also called as National Institution for Transforming India,
a policy think tank of the Government of India, established
with the aim to achieve Sustainable Development Goals
and to enhance cooperative federalism by fostering the
involvement of State Governments of India has released a
'Composite Water Management Index'(CWMI)in 2018
which states that all other things remaining constant
India's water demand will exceed supply by a factor of two
by 2030.

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING DIGEST / APRIL-JUNE 2019 | 31


Figure1. Demand and supply of water in India (forecast) in BCM
Note 1.Water supply for 2008 is Narasimhan's estimates of
650 BM which differs from the Planning Commission's
estimate of 1123BCM. 2. Demand for 2008 are based on
Planning Commission's estimate. 3. Supply & Demand for
2030 are projections by McKinsey & Water Resource
Group (WRG).
So in present scenario, there is much emphasis for water
storage projects all around the world. Reservoir is a
common term applied to liquid storage structure and it can
be below or above the ground level. Reservoirs below the
ground level are normally built to store large quantities of
water whereas those of overhead type are built for direct
distribution by gravity flow. Water tank is a reservoir type
structure used to store water for supplying to households
as drinking purpose, for industries as a coolant and
irrigational water for agricultural farming in some areas.
In design of water tanks, design aspects are to be followed
as per code books and loads is to be applied carefully.
Water tanks are classified into two types based on position
and shape of the tank. Based on the location the water
tanks are classified into three ways:
1. Underground water tanks
2. Tank resting on grounds
3. Elevated or overhead water tanks.
Also, the water tanks are classified based on shape:
1. Circular tanks
2. Rectangular tanks
3. Intze tanks
4. Circular tank with conical bottom
32 | STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING DIGEST / APRIL-JUNE 2019
5. Square tanks.
2. Literature Review
[3] Issar Kapadia et al., had done the “DESIGN,
A N A LY S I S A N D C O M PA R I S O N O F
UNDERGROUND RECTANGULAR WATER TANK
BY USING STAAD PROVI8 SOFTWARE”. This paper
includes the study of UG Rectangular tank that how the
shape deflected and what are the actions will be produced
when tank empty or full by using STAAD Pro software is
discussed.
[4] B.V. Ramana Murthy, M Chiranjeevi had done the
“DESIGN OF RECTANGULAR WATER TANK BY
USING STAAD PRO SOFTWARE”. In this paper he said
that this mini project is conducted for a period of 15 days
from 21-05-2010 to 07-06-2010 to have complete
practical knowledge of various techniques and problems
faced in the field. A different topic like Construction
Aspects, Design Parameters, Details of Form work,
Details of reinforcement, Process of Water Treatment
Plant and Execution have been dealt with in the course of
our mini project.
[5] Thalapathy .M et al., had done “ANALYSIS AND
ECONOMICAL DESIGN OF WATER TANKS”. In this
paper he said this project gives the detailed analysis of the
design of liquid retaining structure using working stress
method. This idea for safe design with minimum cost of
the tank and give the designer relationship curve between
design variable. This paper helps in understanding the
design philosophy for the safe and economical design of
water tank.
[6] Nallanathel. M et al., showed that corner stresses and
maximum shear and bending stresses are less in case of
circular tanks than remaining other designs and the shapes
of water tanks plays vital role in the stress distribution and
overall economy and by using Staad pro, the results
obtained was very accurate than conventional results.
[7] Nikunjr. P, Mistry. J have concluded the following facts
that (i) Deflection can be reduced by bracing system; (ii)
Stability of water tank can be improved by providing
heavy column at bottom level; (iii) At the mid span of top
portion get maximum stresses; (iv) Fluid density must be
considered in design and (v) Slab thickness also effect on
deflection.
[8] Dubey. D., Dubey. S., Bajpai. Y.K's work k deals with
the Wind analysis of elevated INTZE type water tank
using STAAD-Pro Software package. They concluded
that Designed Wind forces for zone I is about 19 to 21%
less than the that of zone II, about 35 to 37% less than that
of zone III, about 45 to 47 % less than that of zone IV, about
55 to 57% less than that of zone V, about 71-73% less than
that of zone VI. Also Lateral displacements for zone I is
about 29% less than that of zone II, about 45 to 46 % less
than that of zone III, about 50 to 52% less than that of zone
IV, about 56 to 58% less than that of zone V, about 63 to 65
% less than that of zone VI.
[9] Patel Kulvendra's project involves the analysis of the
entire structure by STAAD. Pro and the analysis of the
response spectrum along with the time-history analysis
provides the displacement, the bending moment, the axial
force, the torsion values and the cutting force. He also
concluded that design of elevated cylindrical water tank
involves lots of mathematical formulae and calculation
and it is also time consuming. But Staad – pro gives a base
shear value from the analysis immediately.
[10] IITK-GSDMA Guidelines (For Seismic Design of
Liquid Storage Tanks) says that, most elevated tanks are
never filled completely with liquid. Hence a two mass
idealization of the tank is more appropriate as compared to
aonemass idealization, which was used in IS 1893: 1984.
Two mass models for elevated tank were proposed by
Housner (1963) and are being commonly used in most of
the international codes.
3. Aim of the Work
Making this water reservoir will serve plenty of water to
the families of the locality named Kholsagota, Baigachhi
to fulfill their daily water demand and also keep in mind
that there will be no scarcity of water if the population
increases in future.
4. Scope of the Work
We have surveyed on the water demand in a locality named
Kholsagota, Baigachhi in West Bengal. Here we found
about 120 families having 4 persons(average) in each
family.
The normal need of water is 185 litres/person/day.
On this basis there is a demand of water of (185x4x120) =
88800 litres.
So, we are making a water reservoir to serve these families
of this locality to fulfill their daily water demand and also
keep in mind that there will be no scarcity of water if the
population increases in future.
5. Methodology
5.1 Open STAAD.Pro V8i and create a new Space
structure with Meter and Kilo Newton as Length Units
and Force Units. Select the Beam page under Geometry
tab; the Snap Node/Beam window is displayed. Close the
Snap Node/Beam window. In the Nodes window, create
the nodes with the relevant data as provided. Now, we will
create the members in the upward direction so that the
plates could be created with the same orientation. If the
plates are created in different orientation, you cannot
assign a single load case to plates with different
orientations. Create the members with the relevant data.
Now, we will create a segment of the tank using the
Circular Repeat tool.
Figure 2. 3 D Circular Tool in Staad Pro.
Select all the members and then choose the Circular
Repeat tool from the Geometry menu; the 3D Circular
dialog box is displayed. Enter the values as obtained.
Choose the OK button; the model will be repeated at 20
degrees with rotational axis as Y-axis. Select all the
members and then select the Create In fill Plates option
from the Geometry menu; the plates will be automatically
created in the areas enclosed by the members. Select the
outer periphery beams and delete them. Now, we will
apply loads to the plates. Select the Loads & Definition
page from the General tab; the Load & Definition
window is displayed. Select the Load Cases Details node
in the Load & Definition window and choose the Add
button; the Add New: Load Cases dialog box is displayed
with the Primary node selected by default. Select the
Fluids option from the Loading Type drop-down list and
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING DIGEST / APRIL-JUNE 2019 | 33
enter Fluid Loads in the Title text box. Choose the Add plate created. Choose the Define button from the
button; the primary load case will be created under the Properties – Whole Structure window; the Property
Load Case Details node of the Load & Definition dialog box is displayed. Select the Rectangle node; the
window. Close the Add New: Load Cases dialog box. Rectangle page is displayed. Enter 0.45 and 0.30 in the
Select the newly created Fluid Loads load case and YD and ZD edit boxes respectively. Choose the Add
choose the Add button from the Load & Definition button; the Property dialog box is closed and the property
window; the Add New: Load Items dialog box is is added to the Properties – Whole Structure window.
displayed. Select the Plate Loads node in the Add New: Assign the newly created property to the members in the
Load Items dialog box; the Pressure on Full Plate page is model. Select the Support page from the General tab; the
displayed by default. Enter -76 as load intensity in the W1 Supports – Whole Structure window is displayed.
text box and select GY as the load direction. Choose the Choose the Create button; the Create Support dialog box
Add button; the load is added under the Fluid Loads load is displayed with the Fixed tab chosen by default. Choose
case. Select the Hydrostatic page from the Plate Loads the Add button; the fixed support is added to the Supports
node in the Add New: Load Items dialog box; the – Whole Structure window. Assign the fixed support
Hydrostatic page is displayed. The options are created to the lowermost nodes. Select the plates and
unavailable as no plates are selected. Choose the Select members using the Geometry Cursor and choose the
Plate(s) button from the Add New: Load Items dialog Circular Repeat option from the Geometry menu; the 3D
box; the Selected Items dialog box is displayed. Choose Circular dialog box is displayed. Enter the relevant
the Plates cursor and select the plate in the Staad window; values. Choose the OK button; the model will be repeated
the plate number is displayed in the Selected Items(s) at 360 degrees with rotational axis as Y-axis.
dialog box. Choose the Done button from the Selected
Select the Perform Analysis option from the Analysis
Items(s) dialog box; the Selected Items(s) dialog box is
fly-out in the Commands menu; the Perform Analysis
closed and the options are available in the Hydrostatic
dialog box is displayed. Close the Perform Analysis
page. Enter -53.9 in the W1 edit box and -0.009 in the W2
dialog box and select the Run Analysis option from the
edit box. Select the Y and Local Z radio buttons in the
Analyze menu; the STAAD Analysis and Design window
Interpolate along Global Axis and Direction of
is displayed showing the progress of solution. Once the
pressure areas, respectively. Choose the Add button; the
analysis is complete; select the Go to Post Processing
load is added under the Fluid Loads load case. Similarly,
Mode radio button and choose the Done button; the
add the hydrostatic load of the magnitude ranging from -
53.9 to -66.4 kN/m2 on the plate just below the vertical
plate, in your Staad window. Now we will assign the
uniform pressure created in previous steps onto the bottom
plate of tank. Select the uniform pressure load and assign it
to the plate. Create a new load case for dead loads and add
self-weight and a uniform load for railing. Now we will
provide sectional properties to the model. Select the
Properties page from the General tab; the Properties –
Whole Structure window is displayed. Choose the
Thickness button from the Properties – Whole
Structure window; the Plate Element/Surface Property
dialog box is displayed. Enter 0.15 as thickness in the
Node 1 edit box and make sure that the Concrete option is
selected from the Material drop-down list. Choose the
Add button; the Plate Element/Surface Property dialog
box is closed. Select the Assign to View radio button from
the Properties – Whole Structure window and then
choose the Assign button; the property is assigned to each Figure 3. Plate Control Tab in Post processing mode

34 | STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING DIGEST / APRIL-JUNE 2019

Results Setup dialog box is displayed. Choose the Apply
and the OK button; the post-processing mode is displayed
along with various results[2].Suppose you want to view
Plate Contours. Go to the sub-page, the following dialog
box will appear. This dialog box will allow the user to
control the Plate Stress Contour by changing the
following:
· The desired Load Case user likes to display the
Stresses for
· Stress Type, you can choose one of the available
Stresses/MomentsTypes (please refer to the Technical
Reference manual section of Bentley).Once you do,
the Minimum & Maximum value of this type will be
displayed at the lower left corner of the dialog box.
· Contour Type, select between Normal Fill,
Enhanced Fill, or Normal Lines and the output will
be as shown in the following figure with the red
line/color accounting for the maximum moment while
blue line/color for minimum moment.
5.2 The Indian Standard Codes provisions of manual
Crack width calculations are as follows:-
(I) For temperature & moisture cracks in thin sections,
as per Annex. A of IS: 3370(2)-2009
To be effective in distributing cracking the amount of
reinforcement provided needs to be at
least as great as that given by the formula;
Pcrit =fct /fy
Where, Pcrit= critical steel ratio, that is, the minimum ratio,
of steel area to the gross area of thewhole concrete section
required to distribute the cracking;
fct= direct tensile strength of the immature concrete
fy = characteristic strength of the reinforcement
Maximum spacing of crack SMax shall be given by the
formula:
SMax =(fct /fb )X (ø /2)
Where,
= fct /fb ratio of the tensile strength of the concrete (fct) to the
average bond strength between concrete and steel which
can be taken as 2/3 for immature concrete ø = size of each
reinforcing bar, and ρ = steel ratio based on the gross
concrete section.
The width of a fully developed crack due to drying
shrinkage and 'heat of hydration' contraction in lightly
reinforced restrained walls and slabs may be obtained
from:
WMax = SMaxx(a/2)x T1
Where , α = coefficient of thermal expansion of mature
concrete, = 1 x 10-5 ;T1 = fall in temperature between the
0
hydration peak and ambient. = 30 C.
(II) For flexure cracks in mature concrete, as per
Annex. B of IS: 3370(2)-2009 and Annex. F of IS: 456
2000
Provided the strain in tension reinforcement is limited
to0.8fy/Ps,thedesignsurfacecrackwidthisgivenbythecode
as:
wcr= (3acrem)/[1 +2(acr-cmin)/(D-kd)]
where,
w =design surface crack width at the selected location of
maximum moment
acr =distance from the point considered to the surface of
the nearest longitudinal bar as shown in Fig.6.
em = average steel strain at the level considered
cmin= minimum cover to the longitudinal bar
D = overall depth of the member
kd = depth of neutral axis
The formula for mean strain, em is given by
em = 1 – b(D-kd)(a'- kd)/3EsAst(d-kd)
where,
e1 = strain at the level considered, calculated ignoring the
stiffening of the concrete in tension zone
b = width of the section at the centroid of the tension
steel
a' = distance from the compression face to the point at
which the crack width is being calculated
d = effective depth
Ast= area of tension steel.
A negative value for em indicates that the section is un-
cracked.
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING DIGEST / APRIL-JUNE 2019 | 35
Figure 4.Model creation and 3D rendered views of the water tank Figure 5.Job Information of the water tank

6. Project Work Clear Cover as per IS: 456, 2000[1]:

Details of Work:- l Column :- 40mm
3
l The volume of the water reservoir be made is 365.47m . l Beam :- 25mm
l Capacity of the water reservoir is 365470 liters or l Plate :- 25mm
80392.16 Gallon.
Reinforcement Details:-
Followings are the design details of the water
reservoir:- l Column :- 6 nos. of 25mm Fe-500 main bars @ 170 mm
c/c ;12mm Fe-500 bars as stirrup @ 300mm c/c.
Dimensions:
l Beam :- 4 nos. of 25mm Fe-500 main bars ; 12mm Fe-
l Beam Dimension: - 400 x 450 mm. 500 bars as stirrup @ 300mm c/c.
l Column Dimension: - Circular Column of 450 mm () l Plate: - 12mm Fe-500 main bars @ 125 mm c/c for base
dia. plate, bottom inclined plates & vertical plates.
Plate Thickness: 10mm Fe-500 main bars @ 125 mm c/c for upper
l Top most plate :- 200mm inclined plates & top most plate.
l Upper inclined plate :- 200mm Load Cases :-
l Vertical plates :- 300mm 1. D.L Dead Load Self Weight.
l Bottom inclined plates :- 300mm 2. E.L Element Load Plate Loads Hydrostatic Load.
l Base plate :- 350mm 3. W.L.X Wind Load at X-direction.

36 | STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING DIGEST / APRIL-JUNE 2019

4. W.L.Z Wind Load at Z-direction.
Note – Seismic load is not considered here as the location
of the construction is situated under Zone II (low intensity)
as per IS 1893 Part 1.
Cracked section Un-cracked Concrete
Figure 6. Crack width calculation parameters [11]
Figure 7. STAAD Pro page statement
2. Conclusion
Most Finite Element software do not directly compute
steel directly from stress resultants in applications that
include membrane stresses. But yes, you can design the
concrete slab using STAAD, with plate elements and
meshing it appropriately. But the best practice is to take the
analysis results from the STAAD and do the manual design
as Fig.8 shows.
While meshing see to that your aspect ratio of the elements
are close 1.0.
While designing it is advised to consider the torsional
moment in addition with the major moments. Mx= Mx +
Mxyand similarly My = My + Mxy for Rebar
calculations as shown in the Fig below..
Shear stress shall be directly taken from the STAAD and
can be checked with the allowable shear stresses based on
the Pt provided.
Where Mx, My, Mxy Moments per unit width (Force x
Length/length)
(For Mx, the unit width is a unit distance parallel to the
local Y axis.
For My, the unit width is a unit distance parallel to the local
X axis.
Mx and My cause bending, while Mxy causes the element
to twist out-of-plane.)
Figure 8. Mx, My & Mxy from Staad Pro Analysis Report
(i) I/we have achieved our goal to serve families with
supplying enough water as per minimum I.S.
requirements for their everyday use. But as per the
Bureau of Indian Standards, IS: 1172-1993, a
minimum water supply of 200 litres per capita per day
(lpcd) should be provided for domestic consumption
in cities with full flushing systems.
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING DIGEST / APRIL-JUNE 2019 | 37
(ii) At present there is no scarcity of water in that locality. stirrups closely near the edges (as maximum shear
develops at the edges and hence cracks). As per IS 3370,
The deterioration of modern concrete structures resulted
the crack width has to be limited to 0.2 mm only and not 0.1
in the inclusion of durability concepts in the recent
mm. Only in aggressive environments we need to limit the
revision of the Indian codes. Though several factors affect
crack width to 0.1 mm. Interestingly, as per IS 456, it is
the durability, it was thought that by controlling the crack
enough if we restrict the crack width to 0.3 mm. Clause
widths, the durability can be enhanced. In the recent
35.3.2 of IS 456 also mentions that in liquid retaining
revision an appendix was added to calculate the crack
structures the crack width should be restricted to 0.2 mm.
width of flexural and tension member through Limit State
Methods. However, due to the complexity of the 8. Acknowledgements
equations, the design engineers seldom do these
The author is extremely grateful to a private engineering
calculations. Cracks can be formed due to bending
college named Ideal Institute of Engineering in Kalyani
(tension cracks) or due to shear (shear cracks).To prevent
Shilplanchal, Kalyani, Nadia, West Bengal, India for
tension cracks, provide a bit extra steel than required
which we anyways do. To prevent shear cracks, place the providing logistic support to this piece of work.

References
[1] Indian Standard Plain & Reinforced Concrete Code of Practice (Fourth Revision), IS-456, 2000.
[2] https://bimncad.com/2017/08/12/over-head-water-tank-staad-analysis/
[3] Issar Kapadia, Purav Patel, Nilesh Dholiya and Nikunj Patel (2017). “Design, Analysis and Comparison of
Underground Rectangular water tank by using STAAD Provi8 software”. International Journal of Scientific
Development and Research (IJSDR), January 2017, Volume 2, Issue 1, ISSN: 2455-2631.
[4] B.V. Ramana Murthy, M Chiranjeevi.“Design of Rectangular Water Tank by Using Staad Pro Software”. -
International Journal of Computer Science information and Engg., Technologies, issue 6-volume 1, series 3, ISSN
2277-4408.
[5] Thalapathy. M, Vijaisarathi. R. P, Sudhakar. P, Sridharan. V, Satheesh. V. S(2016). “Analysis and Economical
Design of Water Tanks”. International Journal of Innovative Science, Engineering &Technology, Vol. 3, Issue 3,
ISSN 2348 – 7968.
[6] Nallanathel. M, Ramesh. B, Jagadeesh. L(2018). “Design and Analysis of Water Tanks using Staad Pro”.
International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematics, Vol.119, No.17, 3021-3029 pp, ISSN: 1314-3395 (on-line
version).url: http://www.acadpubl.eu/hub/ Special Issue.
[7] Nikunjr. P, Mistry. J., “Analysis of Circular Water Tank Stresses Under Hydrostatic Loading by Using Stadd Pro
Software”. Indian Journal of Research, Vol. 5, Issue 9, September 2016.
[8] Dubey. D., Dubey. S., Bajpai.Y.K., “Wind Force Analysis of Intze Type Water Tank in Various Wind Zones Using
STAAD-PRO”. International Journal of Advance Engineering and Research Development, Volume 4, Issue 6,
June -2017, e-ISSN (O): 2348-4470, p-ISSN (P): 2348-6406.
[9] Patel Kulvendra. “Wind and Seismic Analysis of Elevated Tank using Staad Pro”. International Research Journal
of Engineering and Technology, Vol. 05, Issue 10, Oct 2018, e-ISSN: 2395-0056, p-ISSN: 2395-0072.
[10] Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur – Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority (IITK-GSDMA)
Guidelines for Seismic Design of Liquid Storage Tanks, National Information Center of Earthquake Engineering
(NICEE) Publication, October 2007, ISBN 81-904190-4-8.
[11] https://nptel.ac.in/courses/105106117/pdf/6_Deflection_Crack_Width/Section6.2.pdf

38 | STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING DIGEST / APRIL-JUNE 2019

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