^AXISYMMETRICAL VIBRATIONS /

OF TANKS—ANALYTICAL -^
By M e d h a t A.JHaroun, 1 M . ASCE a n d M a g d y A.lTayel 2
j—i L-^___ ^ — • --
ABSTRACT: LAn analytical method for the computation of the axisymmetrical dy-
namic characteristics of partly-filled cylindrical tanks is presented. The liquid is
assumed to be inviscid and incompressible. The tank shell is assumed to be of
-. -.constant thickness and its material to be linearly elastic. Under these assump-
/ ytions, two coupled partial differential equations govern the vibrations of the
Zi shell. Because the tank is partly-filled with liquid, two different solutions are
obtained for the lower (wet) and upper (dry) portions of the shell. A system
of linear homogeneous algebraic equations is obtained by satisfying the bound-
ary conditions at the bottom and top of the tank and the compatibility equations
at the junction of the wet and dry parts of the shejrTjhe determinant of coef-
ficients of this system leads to the frequency equaHon/Thejiatural frequencies,
mode shapes and stress distributions-showed excellent agreement with those
obtained from a numerical solution. J

INTRODUCTION

The dynamic behavior of cylindrical tanks has been the subject of many
investigations in recent years. Most of these studies have been con-
cerned with the antisymmetrical vibrations due to lateral excitations and
ignored the axisymmetrical response due to vertical component of ground
acceleration. Recently, attention has been directed to the latter and led
to several interesting conclusions. For example, Marchaj (4) considered
a horizontal strip of the tank wall and studied its behavior under vertical
acceleration by translating the dynamically applied forces into equivalent
static forces and equating the work done by such forces to the elastic
energy of the shell. He attributed the failure of metallic tanks during
past earthquakes to the lack of consideration of vertical acceleration in
their design. A second study was carried out at Rice University by Ku-
mar (3) in which he considered only the radial motion of partly-filled
tanks and neglected the effect of axial deformations. More recently, the
dynamic characteristics of cylindrical tanks have been evaluated numer-
ically by Haroun and Tayel (2). The natural frequencies and the mode
shapes of both empty and partly-filled tanks were presented, and the
corresponding hydrodynamic pressure and stress distributions were dis-
played.
In this paper, an analytical method for the computation of the axisym-
metrical dynamic characteristics of partly-filled cylindrical tanks is pre-
sented. The liquid is assumed to be inviscid and incompressible. The
tank shell is assumed to be of constant thickness and its material to be
linearly elastic. Under these assumptions, two coupled partial differ-
'Assoc. Prof., Civ. Engrg. D e p t , Univ. of California, Irvine, Calif. 92717.
2
Grad. Research Asst., Civ. Engrg. Dept., Univ. of California, Irvine, Calif.
92717.
Note.—Discussion o p e n until A u g u s t 1, 1985. Separate discussions s h o u l d b e
submitted for the individual p a p e r s in this symposium. To extend the closing
date one m o n t h , a written request m u s t be filed with the ASCE Manager of Jour-
nals. The manuscript for this p a p e r w a s submitted for review a n d possible p u b -
lication on January 3, 1984. This p a p e r is p a r t of t h e Journal of Engineering Me-
chanics, Vol. I l l , N o . 3, March, 1985. ©ASCE, ISSN 0733-9399/85/0003-0346/
$01.00. Paper N o . 19538.

346
Downloaded 30 May 2009 to 141.117.79.62. Redistribution subject to ASCE license or copyright; see http://pubs.asce.org/copyr
 ential equations govern the vibrations of the shell. Bcause the tank is
partly-filled with liquid, two different solutions are obtained for the lower
(wet) and upper (dry) portions of the shell. A system of linear homo-
geneous algebraic equations is obtained by satisfying the boundary con-
ditions at the bottom and top of the tank and the compatibility equations
at the junction of the wet and dry parts of the shell. The dynamic char-
acteristics are compared with those obtained from the numerical solu-
tion.

EQUATIONS OF MOTION

Coordinate System.—The tank under consideration is shown in Fig. 1.

It is a ground-supported, circular cylindrical, thin-walled container of
radius R, length L and thickness h. The tank is partly filled with liquid
to a height H. A cylindrical coordinate system is used with the center
of the base being the origin. The radial and axial displacement compo-
nents of a point on the shell middle surface are denoted by w and u,
respectively.
Shell Motion.—Two partial differential equations govern the shell mo-
tion: one of the second order governing the dynamic equilibrium in the
axial direction, and the other of the fourth order governing the dynamic
equilibrium in the radial direction. According to the formulation due to
V. V. Novozhilov (5), these equations take the form

Cylindrical
Shell

FIG. 1.—Cylindrical Tank and Coordinate System

347
Downloaded 30 May 2009 to 141.117.79.62. Redistribution subject to ASCE license or copyright; see http://pubs.asce.org/copy
 d2U V aW psh d2U
, +- r = 0; 0 < 2 < L (1)
dZ2 R dZ D dt
d*w Eh w vEh du d2u> p(z, t); 0 < z < H
Iz1 + (1 - v 2 ) ^ + (1 - v2)R te + Psh
~di2=0 ; H<z<L"" ( 2 )

in which E and ps = the m o d u l u s of elasticity and the mass density of

the tank material, respectively; v = Poisson's ratio; p(z,t) = the pressure
exerted by the liquid o n the tank wall at any time t; a n d D a n d K = the
extensional and bending rigidities of the shell, respectively, given by
Eh Eh3
D= T2— and K = n (3)
(1 - v ) 12(1 - v2)
Hydrodynamic Pressure.—The hydrodynamic pressure exerted on the
tank wall can be obtained from a velocity potential function which sat-
isfies the Laplace equation a n d the appropriate boundary conditions. It
can be expressed as (2)
deb
pd(R,z,t) = -9i — (R,z,t)
at
H
io(t], t) cos (a„in) dt\
I0(oL„R) cos (a„z) (4)
H „=i a„'I0(a„R)
in which a„ = (2n - 1 ) T T / 2 H ; p; =*the mass density of liquid; and I0 =
the modified Bessel function.

COMPLETELY-FILLED TANKS

In the analysis of a completely-filled tank, axial displacements can be

neglected. Since the hydrodynamic pressure acts perpendicular to t h e
surface of the shell, tank walls deform mainly in the radial direction with
very small displacements in the axial direction; this leads to considerable
simplifications in the analysis. Ignoring axial displacements, the t w o
equations of motion of the liquid-shell system are reduced to

K
54w Eh d2w
U + n _ . . A P 2 ^ + M T U = P(z,t) (5)

The radial wall displacement is assumed in t h e form

w(z, t) = i|)(z) sin (cot),. i (6)
leading to the following equation

d%_+ 4 p ^ = ^
y(\ tyty cos ( anX ) fa] cos ( an2 ) (7)
Iz1
in which w is the natural frequency of the liquid-shell system; and
348
Downloaded 30 May 2009 to 141.117.79.62. Redistribution subject to ASCE license or copyright; see http://pubs.asce.org/copyr
 Eh
pshf
V(l-v^)R7 i 2Plo>%(a„R)
p« = . and 7 =_^ "' ' (8)
K
IK HKa„'I0(oL„R) '
The general solution of Eq. 7 takes the form (6,7)
ij)(z) = e~^z{Al cos (pz) + A2 sin (|3z)) + epz(A3 cos ((3z) + A4 sin (Pz))

+ E (Aifl" + A2&n + A3cn + Aid,,) Q„ cos (a„z)....' (9)

in which Ai, A2, A3, and ^44 = arbitrary constants. The coefficients an,
b„, c„, and d„ are defined by

"K
= re~ &x
cos ((3x) cos (a„ x) dx; b„ =
fL
e
sin (fix) cos (a„ x) dx (10a)
Jo
Jo

c„ = fL eP:e cos (Px) cos (a„ x) dx;

Jo

and dn= \ e Pl sin (px) cos (a„x) dx . (10b)

Jo
and Qn = known bounded factors which can be expressed as

a- ~—r <")

The four arbitrary constants are determined from the boundary condi-
tions at the base where the slope and the deflection are equal to zero,
and at the free edge of the tank where the shearing force and the bend-
ing moment vanish. Application of these conditions yields four simul-
taneous homogeneous equations which can be written in the form
[K]-{A} = {0\ (12)
For a nontrivial solution, the determinant of [K] is set equal to zero. This
condition provides the frequency equation which is solved numerically
for the natural frequencies of the tank. Having obtained the frequencies,
Eq. 12 is solved for the mode shapes of vibration.

PARTLY-FILLED TANKS

The analysis of partly-filled tanks is achieved in three steps. An empty

tank is considered first to find the homogeneous solution of Eqs. 1 and
2. The wet part of the shell is then treated to obtain the particular so-
lution, and finally, the boundary conditions at the top and bottom of
the tank and at the junction of the wet and dry portions of the shell are
applied.
Homogeneous Solution.—The homogeneous solution of Eqs. 1-2 can be
349
Downloaded 30 May 2009 to 141.117.79.62. Redistribution subject to ASCE license or copyright; see http://pubs.asce.org/copy
 written in the familiar form
u(z,t) = Uemzsm (cot) , (13a)
mz
w(z,t) = W e sin (cot) (13b)
in which U and W are constants. Substitution of Eqs. 13a-b into Eqs.
1-2 leads to two h o m o g e n e o u s algebraic equations in U a n d W. For a
nontrivial solution of these equations, the determinant of the coefficient
matrix is set equal to zero leading to the cubic equation
Q M 3 + C2M2 + C3M + C 4 = 0 (14)
2
in which M = tn ; and the coefficients Clt C2, C3, a n d C4 are constants
dependent on the frequency, co.
The roots of Eq. 14 can form either a system of three real n u m b e r s or
a system consisting of two complex conjugate roots a n d a one real n u m -
ber. If the roots Mi a n d M 2 are complex conjugate, they take the form
M l i 2 = a ± /p (15)
and therefore, their square roots can be expressed as
mlt2 = d ± i'P and m3A = -a ± ifi (16)
The radial displacement associated with the roots of Eq. 16 can be ex-
pressed in terms of real valued functions (8) as
w(z,t) = [Axe"2 sin (Pz) + A2e«z cos (0z)
+ A3e'"z sin (f$z) + A,e~"2 cos (0z)] sin (cot) (17)
and the corresponding axial displacement takes the form
u{z,t) = {A^ly cos (pz) - 8 sin (Pz)] + A2ed2[8 cos (pz) + 7 sin (jjz)]
+ A3e~dz[-y cos (pz) - 8 sin (pz)] + y44e"az[8 cos (Pz)
- 7 sin (Pz)]} sin (cot) (18)
in which 7 and 8 = the real a n d imaginary parts of the complex n u m b e r
•x] which relates the complex coefficients U a n d W via
U = T)W : (19)
It should be noted that the solution given by Eq. 17 reduces to the ho-
mogeneous solution of Eq. 9 if axial deformations are neglected.
For each real root M, the radial displacement iv(z, t) takes one of the
following forms:
io{z,t) = lAle^mz + A2e-"Mz\sm(mt), if M i s rpositive
or (20)
w(z, t) = [A, sin (VMz) + A2 cos (VMz)] sin (cot), if M is negative
and the corresponding axial displacement is expressed as

u(z,t) = y[A1eMz-A2e-'Mz]sm(b)t) if Mis rpositive

or i_ _ (21)
u(z, t) = - 8 ^ sin (VMz) - A2 cos (VMz)] sin (cot), if M is negative

Particular Solution.—The complete solution for the axial a n d radial dis-

placements can be expressed as
350
Downloaded 30 May 2009 to 141.117.79.62. Redistribution subject to ASCE license or copyright; see http://pubs.asce.org/copyri
 u(z, t) ^ AG^ + ^P,, sin (anz) sin (wf) (22a)

• 6

w(z, t) = 2 AiF,(z) + ^ G , cos (a„z) sin (cot) (22b)

in which F,(z) and Gt(z) = real valued functions as defined in Eqs. 17,
18, 20 and 21; and P„ and Q„ are bounded coefficients. Substitution of
Eqs. 22a-b into Eq. 1 leads to the following relation:
vDo
Pn = - S<,n SJnxSn (23)
R(pshw2 - Dot*)
Similarly, the substitution of Eqs. 22a-b into Eq. 2 yields the following
expression for Q„ in terms of the unknown coefficients A,

Q" ~ ^-n ZJ A'^in (24)

where \„ are factors dependent on the properties of the liquid-shell sys-

tem and the frequencies of vibration and are given by
2p(a)2I0V(a„R)
^ ' (25)
D vDan%n _ p,o)%(a„R)
aJiKRJH Ka* + —2 + psW
R R , aMccR)

and Tin = F,- (x) cos (a„ x) dx (26)

Jo
in which Ix = the modified Bessel function of the first kind of order one.
Boundary Conditions.—For a partly-filled tank, two sets of solutions are
obtained: one for the wet part of the shell, and the second for the dry
part. The two sets of solutions together include 12 unknown coefficients.
Enforcing the boundary conditions at the base and top of the shell, and
the compatibility equations at the junction of the lower and upper parts
of the shell, yields twelve simultaneous algebraic equations which can
be written in a matrix form (Eq. 12). The frequency equation is obtained
by setting the determinant of the matrix [K] equal to zero.

COMPUTER IMPLEMENTATION

A computer program, based on the preceding analysis of partly-filled

tanks, has been developed to compute the natural frequencies of the
liquid-shell system and the corresponding mode shapes. The displace-
ments of the shell are then used to obtain the stress distribution in the
tank wall. The program, which has been implemented on the VAX 780
at University of California, Irvine, consists of fifteen subprograms.
An approximate value for the natural frequency is first assumed using
a simplified equation (2), and the roots of the cubic equation (Eq. 14)
are calculated and classified as real positive, real negative, or complex
numbers. The radial and axial displacement functions for each root are
351
Downloaded 30 May 2009 to 141.117.79.62. Redistribution subject to ASCE license or copyright; see http://pubs.asce.org/copy
 found and this leads to the homogeneous solution for the assumed fre-
quency. The particular solution is then found by using SUBROUTINE
PARTIC to sum up the terms of the series of Eq. 22. However, due to
rapid convergence, only the first ten terms of the second series are con-
sidered.
The complete solution and its derivatives are substituted in the bound-
ary conditions at the bottom, top, and at the junction of the upper and
lower portions of the shell. The determinant of coefficients (12 X 12, in
the case of partly filled tanks, and 6 x 6 in the case of completely filled
or empty tanks) is then calculated. If the value of the determinant is not
zero, the entire process is repeated until such condition is met; and this
provides one of the natural frequencies of the system. The iteration rou-
tine is carried out by increasing the assumed frequency in small incre-
ments until the value of the determinant changes its sign. Provisions are
included in the iteration routine to assure that the computed root of the
determinant is not spurious as will be explained later.
Having calculated the natural frequency, the system of algebraic equa-
tions is solved to find the vector of the A coefficients (12 x 1, in the case
of a partly filled tank, and 6 x 1 in the case of a completely filled or an
empty tank). These coefficients are back-substituted in Eq. 22 to provide
the complete solution for the shell displacements.
The computer program is very efficient and can handle all three pos-
sible levels of filling in a liquid storage tank (empty, partly filled, and
completely filled). Three different edge conditions can also be handled
by the program including the simply-supported, free and clamped con-
ditions.
*
ILLUSTRATIVE NUMERICAL EXAMPLES

Several cases of liquid storage tanks with different properties are pre-
sented to prove the applicability of the analysis developed herein and
to confirm the validity of the computer program. The results are com-
pared with those calculated using the finite element method (2) which
show that both analyses agree quite well.
Example 1.—Empty Storage Tanks
To illustrate the effect of tank proportionality, two tanks classified as
tall and broad are selected (1). The properties of these tanks are as fol-
lows:

TABLE 1.—Natural Frequencies of Empty Tanks

Natural Frequency, in Hertz
Tank Mode number Analytical Finite element
(1) (2) (3) (4)
TankB 1 44.40 44.41
2 44.71 44.72
3 44.77 44.83
TankT 1 57.72 57.80
2 108.97 109.14
3 111.04 111.23

352to ASCE license or copyright; see http://pubs.asce.org/cop

Downloaded 30 May 2009 to 141.117.79.62. Redistribution subject
 AXIAL RADIAL AXIAL RADIAL
TANK 'T' TANK 'B'
ANALYTICAL
• • • • NUMERICAL

FIG. 2.—Fundamental Mode Shapes of Empty Tanks

(a) Tank T: R = 24.0 ft (7.32 m); L = 72.0 ft (21.95 m).

(b) Tank B: R = 60.0 ft (18.29 m); L = 40.0 ft (12.19 m).
and both tanks have a uniform wall thickness of h = 1.0 in. (2.54 cm).
The tanks' wall is made of steel having the following properties: E = 30
x 106 lb/in. 2 (20.67 X 107 KPa), v = 0.3, and ps = 0.733 X 10~3 lb-sec 2 /
in.4 (7.84 x 103 kg/m 3 ). In Table 1, the three lowest natural frequencies
of both tanks are presented along with those calculated using the finite
element method (2). Inspection of thfs table shows excellent agreement
between the values of these frequencies. The frequencies computed by
the finite element method are slightly higher than those obtained from
the analytical solution; this is typical as numerical methods overestimate
the exact values of the natural frequencies. The mode shapes obtained
from both solutions are very similar as can be seen in Fig. 2.

Example 2.—Completely Filled Tanks

The tanks described before are now assumed to be completely
filled with water of density 0.935 x 10"4 lb • sec 2 /in. 4 (1,000 kg/m 3 ). The
three lowest natural frequencies of these tanks are presented in Table 2
along with the frequencies computed by the analysis of full tanks with-
out axial deformations. It should be noted that, in the iteration routine,
provisions have been added to assure that the actual roots of the fre-
quency equation, rather than spurious ones, are obtained. The solution
given by Eq. 22 can be singular for a particular combination of the pa-
rameters of the system. For example, when the value of the denominator
of Eq. 25 is zero, the solution becomes singular and requires modifica-
tion. However, away from the singular point, the solution is valid and
provides the actual roots of the frequency equation. Thus a change of
the sign of the determinant of the coefficient matrix over a small incre-
mental interval does not imply that a root exists in such an interval as
shown in Fig. 3.
The fundamental mode shapes for Tank B and Tank T are shown in
Fig. 4 whereas the resultant force distributions are displayed in Fig. 5.
353
Downloaded 30 May 2009 to 141.117.79.62. Redistribution subject to ASCE license or copyright; see http://pubs.asce.org/copy
 NATURAL FREQUENCY
u> (Hi)

FIG. 3.—Actual and Spurious Roots of Frequency Equation

ANALYTICAL
NUMERICAL

FIG. 4.—Fundamental Mode Shapes of Completely-Filled Tanks

TABLE 2.—Natural Frequencies of Completely Filled Tanks

NATURAL FREQUENCY, IN HERTZ

ANALYTICAL
Axial Deformation
FINITE
Tank Mode Considered Neglected ELEMENT
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
Tank B 1 6.27 6.57 6.40
2 11.77 12.33 11.97
3 15.10 15.82 15.34
TankT 1 6.75 7.08 6.86
2 17.99 18.87 18.26
3 25.79 27.04 26.16

354
Downloaded 30 May 2009 to 141.117.79.62. Redistribution subject to ASCE license or copyright; see http://pubs.asce.org/copyr
 N0 M,
TANI$ 'B'

FIG. 5—Distribution of Force Resultants

Example 3.—Partly-Filled Tanks

The two broad and tall tanks are now assumed to be partly-filled. In
this case, 12 boundary and compatibility conditions are to be satisfied.
Table 3 presents the fundamental natural frequency for each tank with
different levels of the contained liquid, and the corresponding funda-
mental mode shapes are displayed in Figs. 6 and 7.

TABLE 3.—Natural Frequencies for Partly Filled Tanks

NATURAL FREQUENCY, IN HERTZ

ANALYTICAL FINITE ELEMENT

Filling Ratio (Liquid Height/Tank Length)
Tank Mode 0.4 0.6 0.8 0.4 0.6 0.8
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)
TankB 1 11.07 8.74 7.28 11.60 9.01 7.48
2 18.91 15.39 13.22 19.74 15.73 13.49
3 24.80 19.64 16.88 26.37 20.08 17.20
TankT 1 15.70 10.96 8.34 16.29 11.25. 8.54
2 33.01 25.91 21.06 33.99 26.48 21.67
3 42.08 34.74 29.28 43.97 35.45 30.06

355
Downloaded 30 May 2009 to 141.117.79.62. Redistribution subject to ASCE license or copyright; see http://pubs.asce.org/cop
 AXIAL DISPLACEMENT

RADIAL DISPLACEMENT
H/L'OA H/L=0.6 H/L = 0.8

FIG. 6.—Fundamental Mode Shapes of Partly-Filled Tank T

AXIAL DISPLACEMENT

RADIAL DISPLACEMENT
H/L=0.4 H/L = 0.6 . H/L = 0.8

FIG. 7.—Fundamental Mode Shapes of Partiy-Fllied Tank

356
Downloaded 30 May 2009 to 141.117.79.62. Redistribution subject to ASCE license or copyright; see http://pubs.asce.org/cop
 CONCLUSION

A n analytical m e t h o d for the computation of the axisymmetrical dy-

namic characteristics of partly filled cylindrical tanks is presented. Two
coupled partial differential equations are solved a n d subjected to 12
boundary and compatibility conditions. The natural frequencies and the
corresponding m o d e shapes a n d stress distributions showed excellent
agreement with those obtained numerically.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This investigation w a s supported b y a grant N o . CEE8204803 from the

National Science Foundation. A n y opinions, findings, and conclusions
or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the au-
thors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science
Foundation.

APPENDIX I.—REFERENCES

1. Haroun, M. A., "Dynamic Analyses of Liquid Storage Tanks," EERL 80-04,

Earthquake Engineering Research Laboratory Report, California Institute of
Technology, Pasadena, Calif., Feb., 1980.
2. Haroun, M. A., and Tayel, M. A., "Axisymmetrical Vibrations of Tanks—
Numerical," Journal of Engineering Mechanics, ASCE, Vol. I l l , No. 3, Mar.,
1985, pp. 329-345.
3. Kumar, A., "Studies of Dynamic and Static Response of Cylindrical Liquid-
Storage Tanks," thesis presented to Rfce University, at Houston, Tex., in 1981,
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philos-
ophy.
4. Marchaj, T. J., "Importance of Vertical Acceleration in the Design of Liquid
Containing Tanks," Proceedings of the 2nd U.S. National Conference on Earthquake
Engineering, Aug. 22-24, 1979, Stanford, Calif.
5. Novozhilov, V. V., Thin Shell Theory, P. Noordhoof Ltd., Groningen, The
Netherlands, 1964.
6. Rashed, A. A., "Dynamic Analyses of Fluid-Structure Systems," thesis pre-
sented to California Institute of Technology, at Pasadena, Calif., in 1982, in
partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
7. Ugural, A. C , Stresses in Plates and Shells, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York,
N.Y., 1981.
8. Wu, C. I., Mouzakis, T., Nash, W. A., and Colonell, J. M., "Natural Fre-
quencies of Cylindrical Liquid Storage Containers," Department of Civil En-
gineering, University of Massachusetts, June, 1975.
9. Yang, J. Y., "Dynamic Behavior of Fluid-Tank Systems," thesis presented to
Rice University, at Houston, Tex., in 1976, in partial fulfillment of the re-
quirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

APPENDIX II.—-NOTATION

The following symbols are used in this paper:

A, = arbitrary coefficients of h o m o g e n e o u s solution;

in,bn,cn, and dn = coefficients defined in Eqs. Wa-b;
E = modulus of elasticity;
Fi(z) and Gj(z) = real valued functions of h o m o g e n e o u s solution;
357
Downloaded 30 May 2009 to 141.117.79.62. Redistribution subject to ASCE license or copyright; see http://pubs.asce.org/cop
 H liquid depth;
h : shell thickness;
l0 and 'I0 = . modified Bessel function and its derivative;
L = shell length;
R tank radius;
r = radial coordinate;
u and w = axial and radial components of shell displace-
ment;
p, and ps mass density of liquid and shell;
= liquid velocity potential function; and
0) circular frequency.

358
ownloaded 30 May 2009 to 141.117.79.62. Redistribution subject to ASCE license or copyright; see http://pubs.asce.org/copyr
k_