Effects of the Vertical Component and Frequency Content of Ground Motions on the Seismic Response of Above Ground Tanks

In this paper six tank models, three cylindrical and three rectangular with the same liquid capacity but with different slimness: tall, medium and shallow are numerically simulated using FEM in order to investigate their seismic behavior under three seismic components of four distinct ground motions with different frequency parameters. The results showed the important effect of vertical component of earthquakes on the response of rectangular tanks especially when its frequency content in the same range as that of the tank, while the cylindrical tanks were less affected by the vertical component and of the frequency content of the records.