Shaking table test of liquid storage tank with finite element analysis considering uplift effect

Abstract

The seismic responses of elevated tanks considering liquid-structure interaction are presented under horizontal earthquake. The scaled model tank is fabricated to study the dynamic responses of anchored tank and newly designed uplift tank with replaced dampers. The natural frequencies for structural mode are obtained by modal analysis. The dynamic responses of tanks are completed by finite element method, which are compared with the results from experiment. The displacement parallel and perpendicular to the excitation direction are both gained as well as structural acceleration. The strain of tank walls and the axial strain of columns are also obtained afterwards. The seismic responses of liquid storage tank can be calculated by the finite element model effectively and the results match well with the one measured by experiment. The aim is to provide a new type of tank system with vertical constraint relaxed which leads to lower stress level. With the liquid volume increasing, the structural fundamental frequency has a great reduction and the one of uplift tank are even smaller. Compared with anchored tank, the displacement of uplift tank is magnified, the strain for tank walls and columns parallel to excitation direction reduces obviously, while the one perpendicular to earthquake direction increases a lot, but the values are still small. The stress level of new tank seems to be more even due to uplift effect. The new type of tank can realize recoverable function by replacing dampers after earthquake.