scholarly journals Analysis of Above-Ground Steel Storage Tanks Resting Over Piles or Stone Columns

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (57) ◽  
pp. 40-49
Author(s):  
Tarek Salem ◽  
Hassan Maaly ◽  
Ahmed Abdelbaset

Static and dynamic behavior of above-ground steel storage oil tanks resting on end bearing piles or stone columns are studied and analyzed using ADINA (2019) program. The studied soil profile is an upper soft clay soil layer, followed by an extended dense sand layer. The main purpose of this research is to explore to what extent stone columns can be used as an effective alternative to concrete piles under steel storage tanks. Therefore, many three-dimensional numerical models are conducted to analyze and study the performance of such tanks in both static and dynamic cases. Ten of the studied cases are steel tanks resting over stone columns with different numbers and properties. On other hand, one model studied the behavior of steel tank resting on large diameter concrete piles. Results indicate that stone columns can be used instead of end bearing piles as long as the computed settlements are safe. In addition, stone columns are behaving better than concrete piles in decreasing of hoop stress in tank shell. It is also noticed that stone columns with high elastic modulus are effective in reducing the sloshing height of the oil surface during earthquakes.

2005 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 1302-1317 ◽  
Author(s):  
M M Ahmadi ◽  
P K Robertson

A numerical analysis is presented to model the cone penetration test (CPT) tip resistance in layered soil. Analyses are performed for two-layer soils composed of either sands with different relative densities or different materials (sand and clay). Parametric numerical modeling is used to determine the distance that a cone senses a new upcoming soil layer interface or a layer interface behind. Analyses are also carried out for a thin sand layer embedded in soft clay. It is seen that the full tip resistance may not be reached in thin stiff layers. This is especially true for penetration in thin dense sand layers interbedded in softer clay. A correction factor is suggested to correct the cone tip resistance in thin sand layers. The higher the stiffness and the thinner the layer, the larger the correction factor. The numerical results obtained in this paper are in good agreement with experimental observations. Some limitations of a previously proposed correction factor are discussed.Key words: cone tip resistance, modeling, sand, clay, interface influence distance, layering.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Tugen Feng ◽  
Huajiao Xu ◽  
Jian Song ◽  
Jian Zhang ◽  
Mi Zhou ◽  
...  

This paper presents the results from numerical modeling of the keying process of plate anchors in three-layer soft-stiff-soft clay deposits. Three-dimensional large deformation finite-element analyses were carried out, and the results were firstly validated by the centrifuge test data and the previous numerical results. The soil flow mechanism during the keying process of plate anchors was examined, and a series of parametric studies were performed to investigate the factors affecting the rotation characteristics of plate anchors with an emphasis on the presence of the interbedded stiff soil layer. The results indicate that the loss of embedment depth of plate anchors decreases with the increase of the thickness of the first soil layer when the anchor is initially located at the middle of stiff soil layer. The flow velocity of soil around the anchor that is initially embedded at the first layer and adjacent to the underlying interbedded stiff soil layer is generally larger, resulting in a smaller embedment depth loss compared with the traditional normally consolidated soil layer. The interbedded stiff soil layer affects the keying process of plate anchors embedded 1.0B above and 2.0B below the interbedded stiff soil layer (B is the width of the square plate anchors). The increase of the strength of local soil around the plate anchors leads to the increase of the embedment depth loss, but the increase of the strength of soil slightly away from the plate anchors leads to the decrease of the embedment depth loss.


2015 ◽  
Vol 52 (9) ◽  
pp. 1396-1407 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.M. Hegde ◽  
T.G. Sitharam

Due to its complex honeycomb structure, the numerical modeling of the geocell has always been a big challenge. Generally, the equivalent composite approach is used to model the geocells. In the equivalent composite approach, the geocell–soil composite is treated as the soil layer with improved strength and stiffness values. Though this approach is very simple, it is unrealistic to model the geocells as the soil layer. This paper presents a more realistic approach of modeling the geocells in three-dimensional (3D) framework by considering the actual curvature of the geocell pocket. A square footing resting on geocell reinforced soft clay bed was modeled using the “fast Lagrangian analysis of continua in 3D” (FLAC3D) finite difference package. Three different material models, namely modified Cam-clay, Mohr–Coulomb, and linear elastic were used to simulate the behaviour of foundation soil, infill soil and the geocell, respectively. It was found that the geocells distribute the load laterally to the wider area below the footing as compared to the unreinforced case. More than 50% reduction in the stress was observed in the clay bed in the presence of geocells. In addition to geocells, two other cases, namely, only geogrid and geocell with additional basal geogrid cases were also simulated. The numerical model was systematically validated with the results of the physical model tests. Using the validated numerical model, parametric studies were conducted to evaluate the influence of various geocell properties on the performance of reinforced clay beds.


Author(s):  
Hoang Nam Phan ◽  
Fabrizio Paolacci ◽  
Daniele Corritore ◽  
Nicola Tondini ◽  
Oreste S. Bursi

Abstract The seismic vulnerability of aboveground steel storage tanks has been dramatically proved during the latest seismic events, which demonstrates the need for reliable numerical models for vulnerability and risk assessments of storage facilities. While for anchored aboveground tanks, simplified models are nowadays available and mostly used for the seismic vulnerability assessment, in the case of unanchored tanks, the scientific community is still working on numerical models capable of reliably predicting the nonlinearity due to uplift and sliding mechanisms. In this paper, a surrogate model based on a Kriging approach is proposed for a case study of an unanchored tank, whose calibration is performed on a three-dimensional finite element (3D FE) model using a reliable design of experiments (DOE) method. The verification of the 3D FE model is also done through a shaking table campaign. The outcomes show the effectiveness of the proposed model to build fragility curves at a low computational cost of the critical damage state of the tank, i.e., the plastic rotation of the shell-to-bottom joint.


Author(s):  
Sheikh Sharif Ahmed ◽  
Bipul Hawlader ◽  
Kshama Roy

With increasing demand of energy, attention to the alternative sources of sustainable energy is getting priority over the last decades. Offshore wind turbine is one of them. The most widely used foundation system for the wind turbine is the monopile, which is a large diameter single pile. In the present study, three-dimensional finite element (FE) analyses are performed to evaluate the capacity of large diameter monopiles in dense sand using the Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) approach available in Abaqus/Explicit FE software. The behavior of sand is modeled using the Mohr-Coulomb (MC) and a modified Mohr-Coulomb (MMC) model where the pre-peak hardening, post-peak softening and the effects of mean effective stress and relative density on stress-strain behavior of dense sand are considered. Comparison with physical model test results shows that the MMC model can simulate better the load-displacement response than that with the MC model. The mechanisms involved in soil deformation are also explained using FE results.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 5638
Author(s):  
Selahattin Kocaman ◽  
Stefania Evangelista ◽  
Hasan Guzel ◽  
Kaan Dal ◽  
Ada Yilmaz ◽  
...  

Dam-break flood waves represent a severe threat to people and properties located in downstream regions. Although dam failure has been among the main subjects investigated in academia, little effort has been made toward investigating wave propagation under the influence of tailwater depth. This work presents three-dimensional (3D) numerical simulations of laboratory experiments of dam-breaks with tailwater performed at the Laboratory of Hydraulics of Iskenderun Technical University, Turkey. The dam-break wave was generated by the instantaneous removal of a sluice gate positioned at the center of a transversal wall forming the reservoir. Specifically, in order to understand the influence of tailwater level on wave propagation, three tests were conducted under the conditions of dry and wet downstream bottom with two different tailwater depths, respectively. The present research analyzes the propagation of the positive and negative wave originated by the dam-break, as well as the wave reflection against the channel’s downstream closed boundary. Digital image processing was used to track water surface patterns, and ultrasonic sensors were positioned at five different locations along the channel in order to obtain water stage hydrographs. Laboratory measurements were compared against the numerical results obtained through FLOW-3D commercial software, solving the 3D Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) with the k-ε turbulence model for closure, and Shallow Water Equations (SWEs). The comparison achieved a reasonable agreement with both numerical models, although the RANS showed in general, as expected, a better performance.


2017 ◽  
Vol 58 ◽  
pp. 6.1-6.36 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Gultepe ◽  
A. J. Heymsfield ◽  
P. R. Field ◽  
D. Axisa

AbstractIce-phase precipitation occurs at Earth’s surface and may include various types of pristine crystals, rimed crystals, freezing droplets, secondary crystals, aggregates, graupel, hail, or combinations of any of these. Formation of ice-phase precipitation is directly related to environmental and cloud meteorological parameters that include available moisture, temperature, and three-dimensional wind speed and turbulence, as well as processes related to nucleation, cooling rate, and microphysics. Cloud microphysical parameters in the numerical models are resolved based on various processes such as nucleation, mixing, collision and coalescence, accretion, riming, secondary ice particle generation, turbulence, and cooling processes. These processes are usually parameterized based on assumed particle size distributions and ice crystal microphysical parameters such as mass, size, and number and mass density. Microphysical algorithms in the numerical models are developed based on their need for applications. Observations of ice-phase precipitation are performed using in situ and remote sensing platforms, including radars and satellite-based systems. Because of the low density of snow particles with small ice water content, their measurements and predictions at the surface can include large uncertainties. Wind and turbulence affecting collection efficiency of the sensors, calibration issues, and sensitivity of ground-based in situ observations of snow are important challenges to assessing the snow precipitation. This chapter’s goals are to provide an overview for accurately measuring and predicting ice-phase precipitation. The processes within and below cloud that affect falling snow, as well as the known sources of error that affect understanding and prediction of these processes, are discussed.


2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (S300) ◽  
pp. 147-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald Schmit ◽  
Sarah Gibson

AbstractThere are currently no three dimensional numerical models which describe the magnetic and energetic formation of prominences self-consistently. Consequently, there has not been significant progress made in understanding the connection between the dense prominence plasma and the coronal cavity. We have taken an ad-hoc approach to understanding the energetic implications of the magnetic models of prominence structure. We extract one dimensional magnetic field lines from a 3D MHD model of a flux rope and solve for hydrostatic balance along these field lines incorporating field-aligned thermal conduction, uniform heating, and radiative losses. The 1D hydrostatic solutions for density and temperature are then mapped back into three dimensional space, which allows us to consider the projection of multiple structures. We find that the 3D flux rope is composed of several distinct field line types. A majority of the flux rope interior field lines are twisted but not dipped. These field lines are density-reduced relative to unsheared arcade field lines. We suggest the cavity may form along these short interior field lines which are surrounded by a sheath of dipped field lines. This geometric arrangement would create a cavity on top of a prominence, but the two structures would not share field lines or plasma.


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