A risk‐targeted seismic performance assessment of elephant‐foot buckling in walls of unanchored steel storage tanks

Unanchored steel storage tanks are used in industrial plants to store oil and other petrochemical liquids. In a major earthquake, such may sustain different types of damage, including elasto-plastic buckling the shape an elephant's foot, which is object research. The methodology introduced this paper consists cloud-based 1D site response analysis (SRA) pushover-based seismic performance assessment tank wall using 3D non-linear model tank. SRA, considers recorded ground motions on rock outcrop sample interval shear-wave velocity profiles, carried out estimate spectral accelerations at impulsive period. By adopting code-based hydrodynamic pressures, demand then calculated by pushover analysis. risk-targeted decision for safety verification. proposed demonstrated through example large liquid it shown that fragility function peak acceleration left side target function, indicating cannot be considered safe from elephant-foot buckling. process relatively simple if SRA automated. However, further experimental numerical investigations required confirm validity range tanks.