Evaluation of the hydrodynamic pressure effect of cylindrical liquid storage tank on the granular soil behavior under seismic excitation

Abstract EN

Many liquid storage tanks around the world have been affected by earthquakes, and the seismic analysis of such tanks is much more complicated due to the Fluid-Structure Interaction.

Besides, when the soil properties are taken into the consideration, the analysis with the Fluid Soil-Structure Interaction becomes very complicated.

In this paper, a series of shaking table tests are conducted on a model of the cylindrical water tank rested on dry granular soil and the equivalent load is considered to study the effect of hydrodynamic pressure generated in the storage water tank on the soil behavior.

An experimental investigation of (1:100) scale model has been carried out on a shake table that was manufactured with specific mechanical parts and flexible laminar shear box.

The preparation of the test included three cases in different relative densities (medium, dense, medium-dense).

Three earthquake histories (Kobe, El-Centro and Ali Al-Gharbi) were implemented to study a wide range of the acceleration.

The results showed that the acceleration at the bottom-depth of the soil column is slightly higher than at the mid-depth, while at the top portion of the soil column, the acceleration comparatively becomes less than that at the mid-depth.

The settlement due to hydrodynamic pressure in the storage base tank is significantly reduced compared with results of nonhydrodynamic pressure in all cases of the acceleration history.

In addition, the lateral stress at the surface gives higher than the stress at a depth equal to the diameter of the base tank.