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Tank Settlement

Uniform settlement does not induce stresses in a tank structure but can impact pipe connections and attachments. Rigid body tilting rotates the tank on a tilted plane, increasing hoop stress in the shell and potentially causing shell distortion, rupture, or connection failures. Out-of-plane settlement is the most important component to evaluate for structural integrity. The optimum cosine curve best represents the plane of any rigid tilt settlement and can be determined through mathematical modeling or by fitting a curve to settlement data points around the tank.

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254 views6 pages

Tank Settlement

Uniform settlement does not induce stresses in a tank structure but can impact pipe connections and attachments. Rigid body tilting rotates the tank on a tilted plane, increasing hoop stress in the shell and potentially causing shell distortion, rupture, or connection failures. Out-of-plane settlement is the most important component to evaluate for structural integrity. The optimum cosine curve best represents the plane of any rigid tilt settlement and can be determined through mathematical modeling or by fitting a curve to settlement data points around the tank.

Uploaded by

korichi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Tank settlement – Optimal cosine curve

Published 2 April, 2017 by admin


By Eng Carlos F Molina

Tank settlement was, for a long time, elusive to me. I got by only whith was needed
for the exam. If you are an API 653 inspector, there are many opportunities to do
inspection or consulting jobs in small tanks. The following is an introduction to the
subject of settlement.

TYPES OF TANK SETTLEMENT


Settlement in tanks can be of several types. API 653 talks about three types: uniform,
planar tilt and out-of-plane settlement.

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Uniform settlement. This component often can be predicted in advance, with
sufficient accuracy, from soil tests. Uniform settlement does not induce stresses in
the tank structure. However, attention should be paid to pipe connections and other
attachments.
Rigid body tilting of a tank (planar tilt). This component rotates the tank in a tilted
plane. The tilt will cause an increase in the liquid level and, therefore, an increase in
the hoop stress in the tank shell. Failures of most concern are: (1) Distortion of shell
such that the floating roof malfunctions; and (2) rupture of the shell or bottom plate or
shell bottom plate connection. The settled location of the tank shell, after rigid
body tilt, can be represented by either a cosine or sine wave with respect to its
original position in a horizontal plane.
Out-of-plan settlement.While uniform settlement and rigid body tilt of a tank may
cause problems, the out-of-plane settlement is the important component to determine
and evaluate in order to ensure the structural integrity of the shell and bottom. Based
on this principle, a common approach is to determine the magnitudes of the uniform
settlement and rigid body tilt (if a rigid tilt plane exists or can be identified) for each
data point on the tank periphery.
THE COSINE CURVE
For the study of settlement (general settlement of the shell) let´s establish a common
notation.

D = diameter of tank
H = height of tank
S = out-of-plane settlement
Si = out-of-plane settlement of point i = component of settlement of point i due to out-
of-plane-distortion
Rho =  measured settlement of point i
delta  = difference in settlement between diametrical points
Zi = component of settlement of point i due to planar tilt

We will use this notation later. Not in this article.


The plane of rigid tilt settlement, if well-defined, is represented by the optimum cosine
curve. Several methods exist for determining the optimum cosine curve. The least
accurate method is by free hand drawing techniques, a kind of trial and error
procedure to fit the best cosine curve through the data. A better method is to use the
mathematical and graphical capabilities of a computer
This cosine curve is acceptable if the value R2 is greater than or equal 0.9

HOW TO FIND THE COSINE CURVE


Let´s suppose we have the following set of data of a tank.

N=40

Procedure
1. Feed the measured settlement data to a curve fitting software. In this case we
will use Curveexpert professional, the trial version.

When you feed the data, it builds the point graph with the measured data
2. Choose the type of curve. Click non-linear regression.

3. Feed the software with your custom correct equation, based in the one from API
653. I called my equation “igual”, and it the following

The 9 stands for the 9 degrees between each measurement point. The rest stands
for the deg/rad conversion.

Click Ok. The software will give you values for constants a, b and c
In this example.

a=3955.92
b=.498
c=120.2 degrees

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4. Make sure that the “Graphs and data” and “Results” windows are open
5. In the “detail” tab, you can find the value of R2

R2 =0 .912  OK

Besides, curveexpert, I used Microsoft Excel to find the value of R2. With excel, I
found a value of R2=0.888. This is because I used 40 points, while Curveexpert uses
I don´t know how many more. Lesson is: the software is better approximating a
curve.

The cosine curve in this example fullfills the requirement of API 653. But what
happens when it doesn´t fulfill the requirements? When there is no optimal cosine
curve? That will be the subject matter of another article.

Thanks for reading.

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