The stresses of tank roof in the group of tanks under wind load

Vertical cylindrical tanks for storing oil and oil products are operated in oil pools as part of groups. For volumes from 10 thousand m3 or more, it is recommended to arrange tanks in two rows. In design standards, recommendations are given to account for wind load only for a stand-alone tank. The authors of the article studied the distribution of the wind flow and its effect on the stressed state of the spherical roof of a steel vertical cylindrical tank with a volume of 20,000 m3. Variants of wind pressure per tank and a group of tanks were considered. For the considered variants, aerodynamic coefficients are obtained in the SolidWorks Flow Simulation software package. To verify the coefficients obtained, a physical experiment was performed on a reduced tank model in a wind tunnel. The stresses in the elements of the spherical roof of the tank were determined by the finite element method using the “SCADOffice” calculation complex. As a result, differences in the standard distribution of wind pressure from the experimental one for a single tank and located in a group were revealed. The most unfavorable version of the distribution of wind pressure for the tank in the group was determined. The stress-strain state of the tank roof is compared with the standard and experimental wind load for the most unfavorable variant.