Overall static and seismic stability of oil tank resting on shallow foundation: a case study.

Abstract

The design of the shallow foundation of oil tanks is the prime concern for civil engineers as these are important structures for the industries. In this paper, a field case study has been taken into account where the stability of an oil tank required to be installed at Sidhpur in Gujarat, India. The behavior of oil tank foundation has been investigated using finite element tool PLAXIS-3D. It has been comprehended from the soil investigation results and numerical analysis that the oil tank could not be filled completely with oil at the present site condition due to large differential settlement. The maximum vertical settlement of 96.80 and 136.2 mm has been found from the numerical analysis for the case of present site condition and considering water level at the ground surface. Moreover, a soil improvement technique has been proposed to reduce the settlement and enhance the stability of oil tank. Finally, a maximum vertical settlement of 54.88 mm has been observed for improved soil considering water level at the ground surface, and the influence of earthquake loading on the stability of the tank is found negligible.