This paper presents a comparative study of FEA with the Zick’s method of analysis for a two saddles-supported horizontal cylindrical tank. Zick’s method is an analytical method commonly used in horizontal vessel support design. We used two methods to calculate local stresses in selected areas with the findings that the results of these two methods produced very agreement. These results are used to verify the FEA for this application. We then used FEA to get more detailed information about stress distribution, which cannot be obtained using the Zick’s method. FEA was further used to study the buckling behavior of the object and to determine some critical parameters of the object, e.g., the vacuum ring weld size with consideration of both external and internal loads.
Seismic behavior of a low-rise horizontal cylindrical tank
