Fluid pressures on unanchored rigid rectangular tanks under action of uplifting acceleration

Although uplift motion of flat-bottom cylindrical shell tanks has been considered to contribute toward various damages to the tanks, the mechanics were not fully understood. As well as uplift displacement of the tanks, fluid pressure accompanying the uplift motion of the tanks may play an important role in the cause of the damage. An accurate estimate of the fluid pressure induced by the uplift motion of the tanks is indispensable in protecting the tanks against destructive earthquakes. As a first step of a series of research, this study mathematically derives the fluid pressure on a rigid rectangular tank with a unit depth accompanying angular acceleration, which acts on a pivoting bottom edge. The rectangular tank employed herein is equivalent to a thin slice of the central vertical cross section of a rigid flat-bottom cylindrical shell tank. Assuming a perfect fluid and velocity potential, a continuity equation is given by the Laplace equation in Cartesian coordinates. The fluid velocities accompanying the motions of the walls and bottom plate constitute the boundary conditions. Since this problem is set as a parabolic partial differential equation of the Neumann problem, the velocity potential is solved with the Fourier-cosine expansion. The derivative of the velocity potential with respect to time gives the fluid pressure at an arbitrary point inside the tank. A mathematical solution for evaluating the fluid pressure accompanying the angular acceleration acting on the pivoting bottom edge of the tank is given by an explicit function of a dimensional variable of the tank, but with the Fourier series. The proposed mathematical solution well converges with a few first terms of the Fourier series. Values of the fluid pressure computed by the explicit finite element (FE) analysis well agrees with those by the proposed mathematical solution. For the designers' convenience, diagrams that depict the fluid pressures normalized by the maximum tangential acceleration given by the product of the angular acceleration and diagonals of the tank are also presented. Consequently, the mathematical solution given by the Fourier series converges easily and provides accurate evaluation of the fluid pressures on a rigid rectangular tank accompanying the angular acceleration acting on the pivoting bottom edge. Irregularity in the fluid pressure distribution increases as the tank becomes taller. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4000546] Keywords: flat-bottom cylindrical shell tank, fluid pressure, angular acceleration, uplift motion, Fourier-cosine expansion, velocity potential, normalized fluid pressure, rigid rectangular tank