Dynamic Response of Coupled Tanks and Piping Systems Under Seismic Loading

Abstract

Dynamic analysis is an integral part of seismic risk assessment of industrial plants. Such analysis often neglects actual boundary conditions or proper coupling between structures of coupled systems, which introduces uncertainty into the system and may lead to erroneous results, e.g., an incorrect fragility curve, in comparison with the actual behaviour of the analyzed structure. Hence, it is important to study the effect of uncertainties on the dynamic characteristics of a system, when coupling effects are neglected. Along this line, this paper investigates the effects of uncertain boundary conditions on the dynamic response of coupled tank-piping systems subjected to seismic loading. In particular, to take into account the presence of the tank as boundary condition for the piping system, two sources of uncertainty were considered: the tank aspect ratio and the piping-to-tank attachment height ratio. Moreover, to model the seismic input, a Filtered White Noise (FWN) characterized by a Kanai-Tajimi spectrum was used. Finally, to study the dynamic interaction of a set of coupled tank-piping systems, the non-intrusive stochastic collocation (SC) technique was applied. It allowed for calculating surface responses of stresses and axial loads of a pair of components of the coupled system with a reduced number of deterministic numerical simulations.

Nonlinear response of acid storage tank coupled with piping attachment under seismic load for optimal safe design

“…Due to fluid-structure interaction, the nonlinear action of sloshing and its effect on the stability of the tank and its piping attachment is extremely complicated which leads to challenging design process (Çelİk et al, 2018), Using ANSYS and MATLAB software numerical simulations, the dynamic behavior in a simplified 2-DOF FE model of a coupled tank piping system has been developed and investigated (Bursi et al, 2015) Jhung, Myung Jo, and Ryu, Yong Ho developed a theoretical background for the time history analysis in ANSYS due to seismic excitation on the whole beam model with a base fixed acceleration time histories applied (Jhung and Ryu, 2010). Chen, Y. G., Djidjeli, K. Price, W. G. suggested a numerical approach for the seismic analysis of partially filled cylindrical tanks subjected to nonlinear hydrodynamic effects (Chen, Djidjeli and Price, 2009).…”

Assessing the Effectiveness of Regional Storm Surge Reduction Strategies and Tank Level Structural Mitigation Measures for Aboveground Storage Tanks

“…Pipe connections between tanks and processing facilities could have prevented AST failures. There have been studies on stress on shell-pipe connections due to seismic loading [60,61] and tank settlement [62]. Stresses develop in the tank shell because of the differential settlement of the tank in relation to the pipe or pipe rack system [21].…”