The Earthquake Engineering Online Archive

Static tilt tests of a tall cylindrical liquid storage tank

Clough, Ray W.; Niwa, Akira

UCB/EERC-79/06, Earthquake Engineering Research Center, University of California, Berkeley, 1979-02, 116 pages (505/C55/1979)

This report presents results of a static tilt test investigation of a cylindrical liquid storage tank. The test structure was a 7 3/4 x 15 ft tank model tested previously on the shaking table. The test was performed by mounting the tank on a rigid platform, filling it with water, and tilting the platform by lifting one edge with a laboratory crane. Principal test parameters included water depth, tilt angle, and top condition (open or with roof), but, as in the shaking table tests, the most important parameter was the base fixity condition. Test measurements included tank deformations and membrane stresses. The observed behavior also was compared with results of typical design calculations. An important observation was that the unanchored tank tilts more and develops much greater axial stresses than are indicated by typical design procedures.

Available online: http://nisee.berkeley.edu/documents/EERC/EERC-79-06.pdf (3 MB)