First Advisor
David Yang
Term of Graduation
January 2025
Date of Publication
9-1-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Language
English
Subjects
fragility, liquid, seismic, storage tanks
Physical Description
1 online resource ( pages)
Abstract
Liquid storage tanks are critical infrastructure, serving as key storage facilities for variousproducts. As the contents in these tanks are usually highly toxic and flammable, damage to these structures under earthquakes can cause severe consequences, including energy shortage, fire and explosion, and spilling and long-term environmental damages. Although new liquid storage tanks are designed according to the updated seismic design codes, large numbers of existing storage tanks were built before modern seismic design codes and did not undergo necessary seismic retrofitting. Observations and reports from past earthquakes demonstrate that these older tanks can be highly vulnerable to seismic excitation. Common failure modes include wall buckling, connection failure (detachment of the tank’s base plate from the tank wall). Under earthquakes, liquid storage tanks may experience several failure mechanisms due to the dynamic interaction between the fluid and the structure. High compressive stresses can develop in the bottom part of the tank wall, potentially causing wall buckling. Simultaneously, seismic forces and fluid motion may lead to uplift of the base plate, which can result in the separation of the shell-to-base welded joint. Focusing on tank wall buckling and base-wall connection failure, this study proposed a streamlined approach to assessing the seismic vulnerability of unanchored steel liquid storage tanks. This study develops seismic fragility curves for liquid storage tanks at different filling levels. Two failure modes are considered: wall buckling and connection failure. The analysis helps assess tank vulnerability under earthquake loading conditions.
Rights
In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
Recommended Citation
Khajeh Shahzanian, Pooyan, "Seismic Fragility Analysis of Above-ground Liquid Storage Tanks" (2025). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 6944.