Evaluation of Seismic Effects on Atmospheric Pressure Liquid Storage Tanks

As part of the seismic capacity assessment of thin-walled tanks containing liquid fuels, the appropriate modeling of hydrodynamic loads is required. The theory adopted in existing work requires the modeling of the hydrodynamic pressure contribution due to tank deformability, which, however, cannot b...

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Main Authors: Luca Chiappelloni, Francesco Serraino, Valerio Belardi, Simone Trupiano, Luca Gaetani, Francesco Vivio
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-04-01
Series:Engineering Proceedings
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4591/85/1/54
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author Luca Chiappelloni
Francesco Serraino
Valerio Belardi
Simone Trupiano
Luca Gaetani
Francesco Vivio
author_facet Luca Chiappelloni
Francesco Serraino
Valerio Belardi
Simone Trupiano
Luca Gaetani
Francesco Vivio
author_sort Luca Chiappelloni
collection DOAJ
description As part of the seismic capacity assessment of thin-walled tanks containing liquid fuels, the appropriate modeling of hydrodynamic loads is required. The theory adopted in existing work requires the modeling of the hydrodynamic pressure contribution due to tank deformability, which, however, cannot be calculated in closed form. The approach adopted in this work uses acoustic–structural modal analysis to obtain the deformation and response period required to calculate this contribution. The use of the proposed method, on a finite element model, allows the implementation of thickness variability and more geometric detail in the modal analysis. On the other hand, using the obtained load distributions, in non-linear static analyses, reduces the computational time compared to dynamic simulations. In addition, analyses can be performed by importing a pre-deformed surface derived from a three-dimensional scan of the real tank into the final model, thus including the effect of geometric imperfections. As a case study, an existing tank model was produced and analyzed, and the same damage patterns documented in real cases following seismic events were obtained. Therefore, due to the low computational cost, this method is appropriate to be reproduced for a statistically significant number of load cases.
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spelling doaj-art-899f4dec7d024cc8918cb2c2337f1c8f2025-08-20T02:24:30ZengMDPI AGEngineering Proceedings2673-45912025-04-018515410.3390/engproc2025085054Evaluation of Seismic Effects on Atmospheric Pressure Liquid Storage TanksLuca Chiappelloni0Francesco Serraino1Valerio Belardi2Simone Trupiano3Luca Gaetani4Francesco Vivio5Department of Enterprise Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via del Politecnico, 1, 00133 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Enterprise Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via del Politecnico, 1, 00133 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Enterprise Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via del Politecnico, 1, 00133 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Enterprise Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via del Politecnico, 1, 00133 Rome, ItalyP-LOTO S.r.l., Via Marco Marulo, 96, 00143 Rome, ItalyDepartment of Enterprise Engineering, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Via del Politecnico, 1, 00133 Rome, ItalyAs part of the seismic capacity assessment of thin-walled tanks containing liquid fuels, the appropriate modeling of hydrodynamic loads is required. The theory adopted in existing work requires the modeling of the hydrodynamic pressure contribution due to tank deformability, which, however, cannot be calculated in closed form. The approach adopted in this work uses acoustic–structural modal analysis to obtain the deformation and response period required to calculate this contribution. The use of the proposed method, on a finite element model, allows the implementation of thickness variability and more geometric detail in the modal analysis. On the other hand, using the obtained load distributions, in non-linear static analyses, reduces the computational time compared to dynamic simulations. In addition, analyses can be performed by importing a pre-deformed surface derived from a three-dimensional scan of the real tank into the final model, thus including the effect of geometric imperfections. As a case study, an existing tank model was produced and analyzed, and the same damage patterns documented in real cases following seismic events were obtained. Therefore, due to the low computational cost, this method is appropriate to be reproduced for a statistically significant number of load cases.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4591/85/1/54liquidstoragetanksfluid–structure interactionseismicfragility
spellingShingle Luca Chiappelloni
Francesco Serraino
Valerio Belardi
Simone Trupiano
Luca Gaetani
Francesco Vivio
Evaluation of Seismic Effects on Atmospheric Pressure Liquid Storage Tanks
Engineering Proceedings
liquid
storage
tanks
fluid–structure interaction
seismic
fragility
title Evaluation of Seismic Effects on Atmospheric Pressure Liquid Storage Tanks
title_full Evaluation of Seismic Effects on Atmospheric Pressure Liquid Storage Tanks
title_fullStr Evaluation of Seismic Effects on Atmospheric Pressure Liquid Storage Tanks
title_full_unstemmed Evaluation of Seismic Effects on Atmospheric Pressure Liquid Storage Tanks
title_short Evaluation of Seismic Effects on Atmospheric Pressure Liquid Storage Tanks
title_sort evaluation of seismic effects on atmospheric pressure liquid storage tanks
topic liquid
storage
tanks
fluid–structure interaction
seismic
fragility
url https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4591/85/1/54
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AT valeriobelardi evaluationofseismiceffectsonatmosphericpressureliquidstoragetanks
AT simonetrupiano evaluationofseismiceffectsonatmosphericpressureliquidstoragetanks
AT lucagaetani evaluationofseismiceffectsonatmosphericpressureliquidstoragetanks
AT francescovivio evaluationofseismiceffectsonatmosphericpressureliquidstoragetanks