Behaviors of Thin‐Walled Cylindrical Shell Storage Tank under Blast Impacts

Abstract

Large steel storage tanks designed with long-span structures, employed for storing oil and fuel, have been widely used in many countries over the past twenty years. Most of these tanks are thin-walled cylindrical shells. Owing to the high risk of gas explosions and the resulting deaths, injuries, and economic losses, more thorough damage analyses of these large structures should be conducted. This study examines the structural response of a simplified steel storage tank under a blast impact, as calculated by the LS-DYNA software package. The numerical results are then compared with a scale-model experiment. On that basis, the simplified storage tank prototype, which has a 15 × 104 m3 capacity, is analyzed using numerical simulation. In this study, we address issues around the variation in structural responses—particularly of the failure mode, resultant displacement, structural energy, and dynamic strain under the impact. In addition, we also discuss the effects of varying the internal liquid level, constraint conditions, and blast intensity.

Design of vertical members in large-span steel structures: Can relevance of seismic actions be exceeded on account of indirect fire actions?

“…[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]), shell models (e.g. [13][14][15][16][17]), and solid models (e.g. [18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]).…”

Thin-Walled Cylindrical Shell Storage Tank under Blast Impacts: Finite Element Analysis

“…These storage tanks are subjected to internal pressure, which subjects the tanks to a uniform loading, considering that the tanks have an inner-radius-to-wall-thickness ratio of 10 or more [4]. In the last few decades, a number of major industrial accidents have occurred around the world [5,6]. Blast loading to the exterior of a cylindrical shell pressure vessels imposes severe consequences [7].…”

“…However, hardly any progress has been made in understanding the dynamic response of liquid storage tanks under blast loading [11]. A review of the literature shows that several researchers [6,[12][13][14] have investigated the influence of blast intensity, tank fill conditions, and tank bottom constraints on tanks' failure mode, resultant displacement and deformation, structural energy, circumferential strain, and longitudinal strain. Moreover, small-scale model experiments have been mostly conducted to study the response of thin-wall cylindrical tanks subjected to blast load [3,6], and the findings have been verified using numerical simulations.…”

“…A review of the literature shows that several researchers [6,[12][13][14] have investigated the influence of blast intensity, tank fill conditions, and tank bottom constraints on tanks' failure mode, resultant displacement and deformation, structural energy, circumferential strain, and longitudinal strain. Moreover, small-scale model experiments have been mostly conducted to study the response of thin-wall cylindrical tanks subjected to blast load [3,6], and the findings have been verified using numerical simulations. However, in order to study the dynamic response of large thin-walled cylindrical tanks, the applicability of numerical simulations has been widely discussed.…”

“…In addition, there are very few studies in the literature on the use of numerical simulations to study the dynamic response of large thin-walled cylindrical tanks where the diameter of the tank is greater than the height of the tank. For example, Lu et al [6] have discussed the applicability of numerical simulations for a thin-walled cylindrical tank which has diameter of 100 m and height of 22.5 m. Authors [6] have studied the structural response by varying the internal liquid level, constraint conditions, and blast intensity while maintaining constant tank wall thickness, height, and diameter. For more comprehensive reviews and the latest studies on thin-walled pressure vessels, the reader can refer to [18][19][20].…”