Parametric Study on Frequency Characteristics of Cylindrical Liquid Tanks

The response of liquid-storage tanks under seismic loading is a key research area. The study of free vibration characteristics is a prerequisite for understanding the dynamic behaviour of liquid tanks under seismic loading. Hence, the present study focuses on the analysis of different parameters that may influence the frequency characteristics of cylindrical liquid tanks. For this, a database of 560 three-dimensional cylindrical liquid tank models was developed by carrying out modal analysis using ANSYS Mechanical APDL software. The database was analysed with the aid of artificial neural networks and nonlinear regression analysis. Average deviations of 30% and 32% were observed for the impulsive frequency values estimated based on IS1893 (Part2):2014 and Eurocode-8, respectively, compared to the finite element results. Hence, modification coefficients were suggested with aspect ratio as the demarcating parameter and obtained a Pearson correlation coefficient of rXY > 0.9, between the predicted values of frequency and actual values. The predicted formulae reduced the deviations observed between the frequency estimated based on the codal expressions and those obtained from finite element analysis to 13% and 15%, corresponding to IS1893 (Part2):2014 and Eurocode-8, respectively. © 2022, The Institution of Engineers (India).