Wind buckling of tanks with conical roof considering shielding by another tank

• Effects of two tanks with conical roof under wind are studied to represent shielding in tank farms.
• Pressure coefficients evaluated by wind-tunnel tests are reported.
• Post-buckling behavior is identified by means of finite element analysis.
• For two tanks with conical roof, the most severe condition is in tandem configuration.
• Reductions in buckling capacity up to 30% are found with respect to isolated tanks.

Oil storage tanks are usually arranged in groups in tank farms, and this configuration may affect their buckling and postbuckling strength under wind loads. The assessment of wind action on tank structures is performed in this work by means of wind tunnel experiments to evaluate the pattern of pressure distribution for a tank which is shielded by another tank under various configurations and separation between them. The experimental results show significant changes in pressures due to shielding effects. In a second stage the structural response under the pressures previously evaluated is performed by finite element analysis using both linear bifurcation and geometrically nonlinear analysis. Results of two-tank interaction are compared with those of an isolated tank. Based on the results, it is concluded that the changes in wind pressures due to group effects induce changes in buckling loads and in the associated deflected patterns.