Direct Lagrangian-based FSI formulation for seismic analysis of reinforced concrete circular liquid-containing tanks

In this study, a direct Lagrangian-based three-dimensional computational procedure is developed to evaluate the seismic performance of reinforced concrete liquid-containing circular tanks (RC-LCT). In this approach, fluid-structure interaction (FSI), material nonlinearity, and liquid-structure large deformations are formulated realistically. Liquid is modeled using Mie-Grüneisen equation of state (EOS) in compressible form considering the convective and impulsive motions of fluid. The developed numerical framework is validated based on a previous study. Further, nonlinear analyses are carried out to assess the seismic performance of RC-LCT with various diameter-to-liquid height ratios ranging from 2.5 to 4.0. Based on observations, semi-deep tanks (i.e., D⁄Hl=2.5) show low collapse ductility due to their shear failure mode while shallow tanks (i.e., D⁄Hl=4.0) behave in a more ductile manner due to their dominant wall membrane action. Furthermore, the semi-deep tanks provide the least over-strength and ductility due to their catastrophic failure with little energy dissipation. This study shows that LCTs can be categorized as between immediately operational and life safety levels and therefore a drift limiting criterion is necessary to prevent probable damages during earthquakes.