Vibration Test of 1/10 Scale Model of Cylindrical Water Storage Tank
Large-scale cylindrical water storage tanks have a large ratio of radius to thickness, which means their thickness is relatively thin compared with the radius. Regarding seismic responses, the deformation of a tank frame is significantly influenced by the sloshing of the water inside the tank and by the bulging vibration of the tank structure, therefore it is important to consider such deformation theoretically and experimentally. This paper describes the results of a vibration test with a 1/10 reduced scale model of a large-scale industrial cylindrical water storage tank, conducted particularly to clarify the dynamic behavior of the tank during a seismic excitation. First a sinusoidal wave excitation experiment was performed for the scale model tank, which measured axial distributions of dynamic fluid pressures, strains and accelerations. Ovaling vibration of the scale model tank also was examined by measuring the circumferential distribution of strains. Furthermore, the dependence of dynamic fluid pressure on the acceleration magnitude of the input excitation was investigated. Secondly, a seismic excitation experiment was conducted using typical seismic waves. Finally, the measuring results were compared with the values calculated using common seismic-proof design methods based on the Housner method or velocity potential theory and the finite element method. Considering the differences between the experiment values and numerical design ones, it became obvious that there was inconsistent between the positive and the negative pressures of the dynamic fluid pressure and that the dynamic fluid pressure was dependent on the acceleration magnitude. And it was suggested that such phenomena were caused by ovaling vibration. They, however, had little effect on the seismic-proof design of the tank in the range of acceleration used in this study.