Cylindrical Tank–Soil Interaction

Abstract

Cylindrical tanks are critical and strategic structures used to store various kinds of liquids. During an earthquake, the fluid exerts hydrodynamic pressure on the walls and bottom of the tank. Collapse or damage to such tanks causes some unwanted events (shortage of drinking and utility water, uncontrolled fires, and the spillage of dangerous fluids). In recent decades, many publications have highlighted the importance of structure–soil interaction in the dynamic response of key structures, such as silos, storage tanks and other types of structures. This paper provides a numerical model for analyzing seismic response of structure–soil interaction. The numerical model was developed using the finite element method.