Numerical Analysis of Seismic Behavior in Cylindrical Steel Storage Tanks with Liquid Contents Involving Fluid–Structure Interaction

Thin-walled cylindrical steel storage tanks are particularly susceptible to local buckling when subjected to horizontal seismic excitations. Damage to these tanks, which often contain hazardous materials such as liquefied natural gas, oil, and other petrochemicals, can result in significant economic loss, health risks, and environmental impacts. Therefore, ensuring adequate seismic design to maintain safe operation and enhance buckling capacity is crucial for many industrial facilities. This paper presents a numerical investigation into the dynamic behavior of liquid-filled steel storage tanks under seismic excitations. We first validated the accuracy of the finite-element analysis (FEA) commercial software ABAQUS by comparing it with experimental test results available in the literature. Time history responses of tanks obtained from FEA, under three different peak accelerations, closely matched the experimental results with discrepancies of 6.2%, 8.6%, and 2.7%, respectively. Additionally, the sloshing wave height observed in our study was approximately 4% lower than that reported in previous research. Furthermore, a parametric study was conducted on three liquid-filled storage tanks—moderately broad, tall, and very broad—to evaluate their seismic nonlinear behavior. Effects of fluid–structure interaction are considered using the coupled acoustic-structure interaction model to assess the distribution of maximum stresses, deformation responses, hoop stresses, longitudinal stresses, and total hydrodynamic pressures under Northridge earthquake conditions. The results indicate that the tall tank (TT-2) experienced the highest longitudinal (vertical) stresses compared to the moderately broad (MB) and very broad (BT) tanks. The total hydrodynamic pressure response was highest for the moderately broad tank (MBT-2) and lowest for the very broad tank (BT-3) under the same seismic excitations.