Abstract
The present paper investigates the buckling and vibration behavior of open-topped oil-storage tanks under wind loads based on a finite element analysis. Focus is on the effects of wind girders on such behavior. The wind force coefficients obtained in a turbulent boundary layer is used in the analysis. From the results of buckling analysis, the effects of top/intermediate wind girders on the buckling load and mode of tank shells are made clear. Furthermore, the effect of wind force distribution on the buckling load is discussed based on the results obtained from wind tunnel experiments with two or three tank models in in-line arrangement. A time-history analysis is also carried out in order to investigate the effect of the rigidity of wind girders on the vibration of tank shells. The stresses involved in the tank walls are found to be fairly small, provided that the wind girders are relatively rigid. Finally, the design recommendations of wind girders installed on an open-topped oil storage tanks are proposed, which provide more reasonable design criteria for the wind girders than the current guidelines.
