A Time Domain Nonlinear Fluid–Structure–Soil Interaction Analysis of Rectangular Water Storage Tanks Using Coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian (CEL) Formulation and Direct Method

ABSTRACT

Generally, soil–structure interaction (SSI) effects significantly impact the dynamic behavior of fluid storage containers. Hence, ignoring the SSI may result in unrealistic fallouts. This research employs fully coupled numerical modeling to examine this effect on the dynamic behavior of rectangular incompletely filled rigid water storage containers under earthquake excitation. The tanks’ performance is analysed using the coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian (CEL) technique of the Finite Element Method (FEM). The fluid–structure interaction (FSI) behavior of the tanks is studied using the CEL approach, which is formulated in a nonlinear wave theory. The direct procedure using the infinite element is exerted to model soil field, reflect the effects of base flexibility on the tanks’ performance, and investigate SSI influences on tanks’ seismic performance. The impact of base flexibility on the system’s dynamic behavior is studied by paralleling the outcomes of six soil media. The conclusions are provided as surface sloshing heights and the development of maximum compressive stresses obtained from six earthquake excitations for the two aspect ratios and various base statuses. The sloshing response seems to be linked to the tank’s geometrical parameters and earthquake characteristics and is practically independent of differences in the base type. From these analyses, it may be concluded that the SSI influences on impulsive response are dissimilar in broad and tall structures because of the ability of shallow tanks to dissipate more energy through radiation damping rather than tall tanks. Moreover, for the case of medium containers, notable attention would be required to be dedicated to the design of flexible foundations expected to experience near-field earthquake shakings.

KEYWORDS:

• Soil–structure interaction (SSI)
• storage tank
• coupled Eulerian–Lagrangian (CEL) approach
• dynamic analysis
• infinite element
• Abaqus

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).