Seismic responses of liquid storage tanks subjected to vertical excitation of near-fault earthquakes

Abstract

This study aims to evaluate the effect of vertical seismic component on dynamic responses of liquid storage tanks, with a special focus on near-fault earthquakes. A shaking table test was performed on a 1:25 scaled steel tank, which was loaded by both far- and near-fault ground motions with horizontal unidirectional, vertical unidirectional, and combined horizontal and vertical bi-directional excitations. Seismic responses, including sloshing height and hydrodynamic pressure were recorded and compared. Subsequently, a refined finite element (FE) model of the scaled tank model was established by utilizing the structured Arbitrary-Lagrange-Eulerian (S-ALE) solver and Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) algorithm, which was verified by comparison with the test results. Afterward, the modeling methodology was further applied to a prototype large-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) inner tank for seismic analysis. In addition, seismic responses of the LNG inner tank were compared with the recommendations given in seismic design codes for cylindrical tanks. The experimental and numerical findings showed that both the convective and impulsive motions of liquid was amplified by vertical excitations, especially under near-fault earthquakes. The peak sloshing heights under near- and far-fault earthquakes were increased by 14–142% and 8–56% due to the existence of vertical action, respectively. The LNG inner tank was more vulnerable to inelastic buckling due to the presence of vertical seismic component. Moreover, the effect of vertical excitations of near-fault earthquakes on hydrodynamic pressure and tank stresses was underestimated by the current seismic design codes.