Behavior of base-isolated liquid storage tanks under synthetic near-fault earthquake pulses

Abstract

Protection of liquid storage tanks from earthquake hazards is vital as damaging of these structures may result in significant economic losses. Base isolation has emerged as a successful alternative to classical earthquake resistant design of liquid storage tanks. However, near-fault earthquake records may include velocity pulses with long periods and large amplitudes that may cause large seismic responses since the isolation periods of base-isolated liquid storage tanks encompass a similar range with pulse periods of near-fault earthquakes. In order to assess the influence of near-fault earthquakes on the seismic response parameters, here, the behavior of a benchmark base-isolated liquid storage tank is evaluated under synthetically generated pulses which represent near-fault earthquakes of different magnitudes recorded at different fault-distances. Seismic response parameters including base and sloshing fluid displacements, isolation system shear, fluid-tank shear force, and fluid shear force are reported in a comparative manner.