Experimental Study on Steel Tank Model Using Shaking Table/ Badania Eksperymentalne Modelu Zbiornika Stalowego Na Stole Sejsmicznym

Cylindrical steel tanks are very popular structures used for storage of products of chemical and petroleum industries. Earthquakes are the most dangerous and also the most unpredictable dynamic loads acting on such structures. On the other hand, mining tremors are usually considered to be less severe due to lower acceleration levels observed. The aim of the present paper is to show the results of the experimental study which has been conducted on a scaled model of a real tank located in Poland. The investigation has been carried out under different dynamic excitations (earthquakes and mining tremors) using the shaking table. The results of the study indicate that stored product may significantly influence the values of dynamic parameters and confirm that the level of liquid filling is really essential in the structural analysis. The comparison of the response under moderate earthquakes and mining tremors indicate that the second excitation may be more severe in some cases.