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International Conferences on Recent Advances in 1995 - Third International Conference on Recent
Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Advances in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering
Dynamics & Soil Dynamics
Yunxia Wang
University of California, Irvine, CA
Wajdi Abou-lzzeddine
University of California, Irvine, CA
Nicolino Mode
University of California, Irvine, CA
Recommended Citation
Haroun, Medhat A.; Wang, Yunxia; Abou-lzzeddine, Wajdi; and Mode, Nicolino, "Large Amplitude Settlements of Oil Storage Tanks"
(1995). International Conferences on Recent Advances in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics. 25.
http://scholarsmine.mst.edu/icrageesd/03icrageesd/session05/25
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A Proceedings: Third International Conference on Recent Advances in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics
W Apri12-7,1995; Volume Ill, St. Louis, Missouri
SYNOPSIS The measured profile of large-amplitude settlements of an oil storage tank was analyzed by the finite element method. Both
geometric and material nonlinearities were included in the finite element analysis. Stresses and deformations, based on available qualification
criteria, were examined. The results showed that most criteria in use today for the tank shell and the bottom plate are overly conservative.
The calculated response of the existing operational tank under the measured large-amplitude settlements confirmed such an observation.
1223
PERFORMANCE CRITERIA
141 121
41
"
Several criteria have also been proposed for dish-type settlements of
the bottom plate (see Table 3).
21
22 23 24 25
"
27
"
.. 30 31 32 33 . .. 31 37 ......
Figure 3: Elevation Mesh.
Table 3. Criteria for Dish-type Settlements of Bott.om Plate
where w is the camber or difference between the center and the edge
elevation; wo is the initial camber of bottom plate; F S is a factor of
safety= 4.0; and a! is the rupture stress of steel.
The finite element mesh, shown in Figs. (2), (3) and (4), includes
a t.otal of 480 elements. Each of the roof and the bottom plate was
subdivided into 120 elements and the shell was discretized to 240
elements. The element type used was a four-node shell element.
Numerical Examples
1224
bottom plate vertical displacements along any diameter (axisym-
300 T-----~------~----~------~----~------,
metric settlement) whereas Fig. (8) presents the maximum plate
250 ·· ... Node 1 to 241 -& Node 11 to 251 * Node 21 to 261 -9- Node 31 to 271 stress along the principal diameter which shows that the location of
eg 200
150 :::::::::::::::::::::r::::::::::::::::::::r::::::::::::::::::r::::::::::::::::::::r::::::::::::::::::::r:::::::::::::::::::::
the maximum stress is at the connection with the shell. Again, it
is demonstrated that even the least conservative criterion produces
cQ) 100 ···················--1······················1······-···············t·········· stresses well below the yield stress.
E 50 ·····················~·········... 200 ~~--~~--~--~~--~~--~-.--~~--~.--,
~0.
180
UJ
.....................J......................•.... til
i5 -50 160
60
I I been obtained. Settlement values varied from 1.42 to 1.64 m. A
surface fitting was performed both in a rectangular coordinate sys-
tem (x, y) and in a cylindrical coordinate system (r, 0). The mean
square error for surface fitting in the cylindrical coordinate system
with 50-term expansion was 0.0007 m whereas the same for a 25-
20 term expansion was 0.00084 m. Because there was little difference
in the mean square errors using the 50-term and the 25-term ex-
pansion, the latter was used in the analysis. Figure (9) displays the
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
fitted settled surface of the bottom plate.
Elevation from Tank Bottom (m)
·0.5
·1
c
~ ·1.5
~
en ·2
iii Figure 9: Fitted Settlements of Tank Bottom Plate.
"8
z ·2.5
The data provided included only the settlements of the bottom plate.
No data were provided as to the imperfection of the shell. Accord-
·3 ingly, the analysis was performed by specifying the bottom plate
0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30 33 36 39 42
deflection, and subsequently, calculating the shell displacements and
Distance from Edge ot Shell (m)
both the bottom plate and shell stresses. The effect of shell distor-
Figure 7: Vertical Displacement of Bottom Plate. tions due to construction was not taken into consideration.
1225
40~----~------~----~~-----.------,------,
analysis showed that the tank is safe, a fact physically observed since
30 ·· _.Node 1 to 241 . . . Node11 to 251 + Node 21 to 261 -11- Node 31 to 271 •• the tank has been operational without incidents of malfunction.
'E i
_§,
-
c:
Q)
E
20 ······················!······················-!--··········
CONCLUSIONS
10
~ Criteria for planar tilt and dish-type settlements were examined by
co
a.
en an advanced nonlinear finite element program which takes both geo-
i5 metric and material nonlinearities into consideration. It was shown
(ij that qualification criteria in use today are generally conservative.
'6 -10
co Measured tank settlements of an existing operational tank were used
cc to confirm this observation. Even though the values of the observed
-20
12
settlements were significant, it was found that the maximum shell
0 2 4 6 8 10
Elevation from Tank Bottom (m) and plate stresses were well below the yield stress except at a small
region near the shell-roof connection. It should be noted, however,
Figure 10: Shell Radial Displacement. that no shell out-of-round distortion due to construction were mea-
sured, and this factor is likely to increase the computed stresses.
Nonetheless, it has been noted that the physical tank has performed
satisfactorily under the present environment without the need for
300 further actions.
,-~----~~----~----._--~,
~
250 •••••••• _ . Node10 to 250 . . . Node11 to 251 Node12to 252 + .!.....
<U
a..
-11- Node 13 to 253 * Node 14 to 254 . . . Node 15 to 255 ~
REFERENCES
~ 200 ·····················!·····················t····················t·····················t······················!
en
en
-
C/)
~
en
Q)
150
100
·····················~······················r·····················1·····················1···············
~;~~=::tJ;
····+·····················
;
[1] Bell, R.A., and Iwakiri, J. (1980), "Settlement Comparison
used in Tank-Failnre Study," Journal of Geotechnical Engi-
neering Division, ASCE, pp. 153-170.
en : :
~
c: 50 ·············l_. ······················t.• · · · · · · · · · · ·-.•~. ·····················-i.····
.• ..........~...................... [2] D'Orazio, T.B. (1984), "Differential Settlement in Steel
>
0
0
! Tanks," Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 110,
No. 9, pp. 967-981.
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Elevation from Tank Bottom (m) [3] D'Orazio, T.B., Duncan, J., and Bell, R. (1989), "Distortion
of Steel Tanks due to Settlement of their Walls," Journal of
Figure 11: Variation of Shell Stress.
Geotechnical Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 115, No. 6, pp. 871-889.
C/)-~
en
Q)
30
[6] Malik, Z., Morton, J., and Ruiz, C. (1977), "Ovalization of
Cylindrical Tanks as a Result of Foundation Settlement," Jour-
en 20 nal of Strain Analysis, Vol. 12, No.4, pp. 339-348.
~
c: [7] Marr, W.A., Ramos, J.A., and Lambe, T.L. (1982), "Criteria
0 10
> for Settlement of Tanks," Journal of the Geotechnical Engi-
neering Division, ASCE, pp. 1017-1039.
0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 30 33 36 39 42
Distance from Edge of Shell (m) [8] Rosenberg, P., and Joureaux, N.L. (1982), "Settlement Limita-
Figure 12: Variation of Plate Stress. tions for Cylindrical Steel Storage Tanks," Canadian Geotech-
nical Journal, Vol. 19, pp. 232-238.
Because the analysis is nonlinear, the solution is obtained through [9] Sullivan, R.A., and Nowicki, J.F. (1974), "Differential Set-
a number of iterations until convergence is achieved. The maximum tlement of Cylindrical Oil Tanks," Settlement of Structures,
stress O"max approached the yield stress during the last iteration, and British Geotechnical Society, Cambridge, pp. 420-424.
only in the tank shell near its connection with the roof. Figure (10)
shows the shell radial displacements along the shell height whereas [10] Wang, Y. (1995), "Settlement of Liquid Storage Tanks under
Figs. (11) and (12} show the variation of Von Mises stress in the shell Operation and Seismic Loads," Ph.D. Dissertation, Depart-
and the bottom plate, respectively. Even though the measured set- ment of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of
tlements exceeded those allowed by the design criteria, the nonlinear California, Irvine (under preparation}.
1226