seismic design of

water tanks
BY
JEEVAN REDDY
introduction

Large-capacity ground-supported cylindrical tanks are used to

store a variety of liquids, e.g. water for drinking and fire fighting,
petroleum, chemicals, and liquefied natural gas. Satisfactory
performance of tanks during strong ground shaking is crucial for
modern facilities. Tanks that were inadequately designed or
detailed have suffered extensive damage during past
earthquakes
Earthquake damage to steel storage tanks can take several
forms. Large axial compressive stresses due to beamlike bending
of the tank wall can cause elephant-foot buckling of the wall .
introduction

Sloshing liquid can damage the roof and the top of tank wall .
High stresses in the vicinity of poorly detailed base anchors can
rupture the tank wall. Base shear can overcome friction causing
the tank to slide. Base uplifting in unanchored or partially
anchored tanks can damage the piping connections that are
incapable of accommodating vertical displacements, rupture the
plate-shell junction due to excessive joint stresses, and cause
uneven settlement of the foundation.
over head water
tank
as per the codal provisions we
assume the water tank may be in full
or empty condition
codes for design

IS 3370 (part-1 to part-2)

IS 875 (part-1 to part-5)
IS 456
IS 1893 part-2
since indian codes are not been properly updated so the IIT
Kanpur has given set of rules to deal with the design of liquid
retaining structure.
SPECIFICATIONS, DESIGN REPORT
& DRAWINGS
Documentation shall be prepared which should contain all salient features of
the work and engineering data and maintenance scheme of the work. It should
cover the Brief data and features like description of liquid to be contained,
capacity of tank (in m), height of free board (in m), staging height (in m).
Foundation investigation report and soil data, type of foundation, probable depth
of foundation and net allowable bearing capacity of founding strata. The position
of ground water table highest & lowest. Soil classification for seismic design.
Location of tower (e.g. polluted industrial area, sea front area, coastal area, urban
area etc.) and purpose of storage of liquid (i.e. public water supply, fire fighting.
Industrial etc.), pollutants, salts, soleplates if any in air, soil and ground water.
SPECIFICATIONS, DESIGN REPORT
& DRAWINGS
Specifications of concrete and its grade, type of cement to be used, limits of
maximum and minimum cement content, grade of reinforcement bars. Salient
features of structure and construction, method of construction, guidance on
release of form work. Clear cover of concrete on reinforcement bars for various
members at different locations. Codes, standards, references for construction.
Design loads Density of concrete, liquid, soil, masonry etc.; provisional loads
of finishing, flooring, rendering, coating, lining etc. as applicable, railing,
parapets, masonry wall etc.; imposed loads on roof, balcony, walkways, platform
etc.; Seismic zone, zone factor, response reduction factor, importance factor,
critical damping factor, soil factor; Basic wind speed, k1, k2, k3, terrain category,
class A/B/C (see IS 875 part 3) ; Load of equipment if any etc.; Construction
loads; any other loads.
SPECIFICATIONS, DESIGN REPORT
& DRAWINGS
Design report containing basis of design, method of structural analysis, detailed computation
of loads, structural analysis, design calculations with sizes of members and reinforcement.

Drawing with reinforcement detailing, instructions, brief specifications and notes. Locations
of construction joints and its treatment should be specified on the drawing.

Guide for completion drawing, and completion report for record. Record of quality of
construction.

Proposed scheme of condition survey and maintenance of structure.

EXPOSURE CONDITION

At the site of tower actual exposure condition should be assessed. Due to

possible exposure, the probable mechanism which may cause loss of durability of
RCC should also be assessed. Specifications of concrete, the structural design and
construction of structure shall take in to considerations, imparting enough
resistance to the structure against possible mechanisms of deterioration & loss of
durability over the service life.
The design and construction should also take in to account the probable
maintenance requirements expected during service life of structure. With the
design report, maintenance aspects which can adversely affect the service life of
structure within 30 years must be mentioned with its frequency. Structure shall be
designed such that maintenance activities will be minimum possible.
EXPOSURE CONDITION

Components of staging shall be treated as exposed to not less than moderate

environment as defined in clause 8.2.2 of IS 456 & table 3, except for the
components protected from external environment by permanent cladding similar to
building work. Owner or designer may decide for higher exposure condition based on
the location of the tank. For staging in coastal area and in area of heavy air pollution,
higher environmental exposure condition like severe should apply.
For foundations and components (like piles, footing, column, ground brace, etc.) in
contact with ground / soil, based on actual ground or sub-soil conditions, higher
exposure condition may be assumed for design.
For severe or higher exposure conditions, possible mechanism which could bring
about durability loss shall be assessed and accordingly design actions, specification
drafting, applications of coating or lining and precautions in construction shall be
taken to achieve the designed service life of structure.
CONCRETE

The requirements for concrete materials shall be governed by IS 456 for

reinforced concrete, with the following additional requirement.
Use of aggregate having high porosity (>5%) shall be permitted only after
establishing its parameters, long term influence on concrete and specifically effect
on durability
Pre stressed members will be governed by IS 1343. Structural steel members will
be governed by IS 800.
Concrete shall conform to provisions of IS 456. The grade of concrete for
staging shall be maximum of the requirements in 7.2.1, 7.2.2, 7.2.3 & 7.2.4.
The grade of concrete shall not be less than that required by IS 456, table 5,
depending upon the exposure condition.
CONCRETE

The minimum grade of concrete should not be less than the following:
M25 - For all staging except as below ;
M30 - For towers with any one of following conditions,
Tanks of capacity more than 1000 m,
Tanks of capacity >500 m in seismic zone IV,
Tanks of capacity >500 m & staging height > 20 m,
Tanks of capacity >200 m in seismic zone V or more,
Tanks of capacity >200 m & staging height > 30 m;
STRUCTURAL CONFIGURATION
OF MEMBERS
At top of staging, container shall be connected to it so as to prevent relative horizontal &
vertical movements between member at top of staging and the container. The connection
must be designed to withstand the design forces to which it may be subjected, and more
specifically for tension and bending. For container in reinforced concrete, monolithic
connection between members of container and staging are preferred. In case container is
not of concrete, there should be arrangement for safe and efficient load transfer from
container to staging including occasional uplift (due to horizontal loads).
In case of framed staging, all members carrying vertical loads shall be tied together at top
as well as at bottom of staging. Staging top connected monolithically to container will not
require additional tie members. Bottoms of columns will be considered as connected if
connected by (a) foundation beam or strip foundation, (b) connected by braces such that
the clear distance between top of structural foundation and bottom of brace shall not be
more than three times the size of column or pedestal in this height (also see 14.5.2).
STABILITY OF STRUCTURE
Stability of the structure shall be checked as per following provisions. Also reference
may be made to the relevant provisions in IS 1904 such as clause 17.he stable
equilibrium of a structure as a whole against overturning shall be ensured so that the
restoring moment shall be not less than the sum of 1.2 times the maximum overturning
moment due to the characteristic dead load, and 1.4 times the maximum overturning
moment due to the characteristic imposed loads, wind or seismic loads. In cases where
dead load provides the restoring moment, only 0.9 times the characteristic dead load shall
be considered. Restoring moment due to imposed loads shall be ignored.
During construction and service, foundation area, anchorages or counterweights
(if required) shall be such that static equilibrium should be maintained, even if overturning
moment is one and half times. This also amounts to a load combination [(1.2 or 0.9) DL +
1.5 WL]. See also clause 17.2 of IS 1904. Normally over turning check will be critical with
1. DL (no IL & FL) & wind load, and 2.DL + FL (no IL) & seismic loadUnder the load
combination for stability check, the maximum bearing pressure on soil shall not exceed the
ultimate bearing capacity of foundation strata.
 For tank shapes other than circular and rectangular (like intze, truncated
conical shape), the value of h / D shall correspond to that of an equivalent
circular tank of same volume and diameter equal to diameter oftank at top
level of liquid; and mi , mc , hi , hi ,hc , hc and K c of equivalent circular
tank shall be used.
CONCRETE

Ready Mixed Concrete conforming to IS 4926 may also be preferred.

M20 may be permitted for staging of tanks less than 120 m in rural non industrial
area (not subject to air pollution), with staging height less than 13 m and not
located in seismic zone IV or above, provided the tank is neither located in coastal
area nor the area having basic wind speed above 45 m/sec. (This permission is to
provide continuity to present practice of constructing staging in M20, it is hoped
that in near future this clause will be deleted.)