Investigation of the Behavior of RC Elevated Water Tanks According to Turkish Earthquake Codes

Water tanks are critical structures that must be used without damage after an earthquake. Due to their vital importance, these structures are required to perform well under the influence of major earthquakes. In this study, the behavior of the RC elevated water tanks under earthquake effects was investigated. The water tank with a volume of 75 m3, which is widely applied as a type project, was examined according to the calculation principles of the 1968, 1975, 1998, 2007, and 2018 earthquake codes. The analysis of the structure designed in the SAP2000 program was carried out according to the equivalent linear method. When the analysis results were compared according to the earthquake codes considered, it was concluded that the structure showed better performance as the design criteria and calculation principles were improved from the 1968 earthquake code to the 2018 earthquake code. The comparative analysis results obtained from the study were evaluated specifically for an RC elevated water tank that was heavily damaged in the 6 February 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes.