Natural Frequency Measurements of the Fluid-Elastic-Coupled Shell Plate Vibration in a Large-Sized Cylindrical Steel Tank by Microtremor Observations

Abstract Naturally occurring microtremor observations measured the natural frequencies of the fluid-elastic-coupled shell plate vibration (bulging) in a large flat-bottomed cylindrical steel tank with a capacity of 125,000-m3. Five peaks appear in the observed microtremor spectral ratios of the top or midheight of the shell plate to the bottom on the tank foundation. Comparing the spectral ratios to the solutions obtained by FEM eigenvalue analysis assuming a fixed base suggests that the five peaks are the bulging modes of (m, n)=(1, 1–5), where m and n denote the vertical order and the circumferential wavenumber, respectively. The measured non-soil-coupled natural frequencies from the spectral ratio agree fairly well with those obtained from FEM analysis. The measured natural frequencies of the fundamental mode (m = n = 1) also agree well with those projected by a simplified equation developed under the assumption of a fixed base, which is adopted in the seismic codes of the Japanese Fire Service Act. This equation should provide a reliable soil-coupled natural frequency of the fundamental mode for a tank situated on firm ground in which the storage-soil-coupled effects are presumed weak. Additionally, a simple method is presented to determine the non-soil-coupled natural frequency of the fundamental mode from the observed microtremor spectral ratios without referencing the FEM eigenvalue solutions. This simple method works very well for the tank examined.