On the Effectiveness of Two Isolation Systems for the Seismic Protection of Elevated Tanks

Abstract

This paper deals with the effectiveness of two isolation system for the seismic protection of elevated steel storage tanks. In particular the performance of High Damping Rubber Bearings and Friction Pendulum isolators has been analyzed. As case study an emblematic example of elevated tanks collapsed during the Koaceli Earthquake in 1999 at Habas Pharmaceutics plant in Turkey has been considered. A time-history analysis conducted using lumped mass models demonstrated the high demand in terms of base shear required to the support columns and their inevitable collapse due to the insufficient shear strength. A proper design of HDRB and FPS isolator and a complete non-linear analysis of the isolated tanks proved the high effectiveness of both isolation systems in reducing the response of the case tank. Actually, a reduced level of displacements of isolators and a reduced level of convective base shear obtained with the second isolation typology, suggested the used of FPS isolators rather than HDRB.