Analysis of fluid storage tanks including foundation-superstructure interaction

An analytical formulation is developed to predict the flexural behavior of a cylindrical liquid storage tank resting on an isotropic elastic soil medium, which is modelled as a half space. The interface between the plate foundation and the soil medium is considered to be smooth and continuous. The plate deflection function is assumed in the form of a power series expansion in terms of the radial coordinate. The procedure accounts for the interactions between the tank wall and the plate foundation, and between the plate foundation and the soil medium. The principle of minimum potential energy is used to evaluate the unknown coefficients appearing in the assumed power series expansion and also the unknown interacting forces at the tank wall-plate foundation junction. Any number of terms can be considered in the assumed deflection function. Analytical expressions are obtained for the plate foundation deflections and radial moment, the contact stress distribution, the tank wall displacements, and the tank wall stress resultants. The results obtained compare well with the finite element analysis of a similar problem. Results of a parametric study are also presented to demonstrate the effect of the various geometric and material parameters on the flexural behavior of the system.