A Study of The Effect of Loaded Pile Groups on Neighboring Fuel Storage Tanks

Abstract

This work examines the interaction between two neighbouring structures, a fuel storage tank and a nearby pile group when the pile group is placed under static loads with different loading conditions related to the tank status (empty, half full, and full). Due to the role of soil in transferring load between embedded neighbouring structures, this study deals with soil-structure interaction by assuming that the soil displays nonlinear behaviour. The major factors which play a significant role in the response of the fuel storage tank were thus considered; these factors were defined as the maximum bending moment along the tank wall, the maximum shear force along the tank wall, the hoop stress in all rings of the tank, the maximum pressure distribution along the tank wall, and the maximum lateral displacement along the tank wall. The influence of the distance between these structures on bending moment, shear force, and hoop stresses in the fuel storage tank were also studied. The results suggest that the case of a full liquid storage tank represents a critical state that must be considered when assessing the structural behaviour of the storage tank.