Damage detection in elevated spherical containers partially filled with liquid

Damage detection through changes in the dynamic properties has received considerable attention in recent years. However, approaches in structures supporting tanks partially filled with liquid are scarce in the technical literature.In this paper, a numerical–experimental study of damage detection in coupled fluid–structure elevated spherical tank systems is presented. The main objective is to investigate the feasibility to detect structural damage in the support structure by monitoring changes in natural frequencies. The major difficulty arises due to the changes in natural frequencies when the liquid level varies. Thus, in order to gain insight into the dynamical behaviour of the spherical containers and distinguish between the frequency shift caused by container filling conditions or by structural damage, experimental free vibration tests with small vibration amplitudes on a scaled spherical tank model are performed. The dependency of the identified frequencies on the structural damage severity is studied assuming three increasing levels of damage in the support structure. The results indicate that it is possible to detect structural damage, with acceptable confidence, up to liquid filling level of 30%. Moreover, only the “associated structural frequency” reflects the structural damage with a perceptible drop. Next, a numerical model of a real spherical container that takes into account the coupling between fluid and structure is presented to demonstrate the usefulness and validity of the results.

► Structural damage in the support structure of spherical containers is detectable. ► Only the frequency associated to the structural mode displays a drop due to damage. ► The largest sensitivity of the frequency shift to damage is for under 30% filling.