Buckling analysis of an underground storage tank on the Oak Ridge Reservation

Many tanks are stored underground on the Oak Ridge Reservation in the state of Tennessee. The construction of some of these tanks dates back to the 1940s. A major Department of Energy (DOE) initiative is to assess the integrity of these existing tanks. These tanks must be analyzed and evaluated to ensure the safety of workers, the public, and the environment. This paper presents the results of a buckling analysis for two horizontal tanks in an underground vault. The tanks are 3.7 m (12.0 ft) in diam, 18.7 m (61.4 ft) long, and supported on two saddles. The analysis addresses different loading scenarios to complement the safety evaluation of these tanks. The loading conditions consider empty and half-full tanks in the vault flooded with either waste material or flood water to different heights. The results indicate that the tank will neither yield nor buckle for flood water of 5.5 m (18.0 ft) above the tank top.