Study on seismic response of a seismic isolation liquid storage tank

This paper presents a new seismic isolation design for liquid storage tank (LST). The seismic isolation system includes: LST, flexible membrane, sand mat and rolling seismic isolation devices. Based on the mechanical equilibrium theory, the symmetric concave rolling restoring force model of the isolation device is derived. Based on the elasticity theory and restoring force model of the seismic isolation, a simplified mechanical model of LST with the new seismic isolation is established. The rationality of the seismic isolation design of LST is explored. Meanwhile, the seismic response of the new seismic isolation LST is investigated by numerical simulation. The results show that the new seismic isolation tank can effectively reduce the seismic response, especially the control of base shear and overturning moment, which greatly reduces the risk of seismic damage. The seismic reduction rate of the new seismic isolation storage tanks in Class I, II, and III sites is better than that in Class IV sites. Moreover, the seismic isolation device can effectively control the ground vibration response of storage tanks with different liquid heights. The new seismic isolation LST design provides better isolation for slender LSTs than for broad LSTs.