First European Conference on Earthquake Engineering and Seismology

(a joint event of the 13th ECEE & 30th General Assembly of the ESC)
Geneva, Switzerland, 3-8 September 2006
Paper Number: 1128

BASE ISOLATED LNG TANKS:

SEISMIC ANALYSES AND COMPARISON STUDIES

Vassilis P. GREGORIOU1, Stephanos V. TSINOPOULOS 2 and Dimitris L. KARABALIS 3

SUMMARY

The seismic response of two typical liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanks, isolated at their base level,
is analyzed. Two types of bearings are investigated: high damping rubber bearings and lead core
rubber bearings. Both types are modelled as non-linear springs where the force-displacement
relationships are based on experimental data. The seismic excitation is an artificial accelerogram
compatible to Eurocode 8 provisions. The problem is solved numerically by means of detailed
finite element models, taking into account fluid-structure interaction effects. Results concerning
base shear force, sloshing vertical displacement and deflection of the inner steel container are
presented. The effectiveness of the isolation systems used in this work is measured by
comparisons to similar analyses of non-isolated tanks under fixed base conditions.

1. INTRODUCTION

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals are crucial facilities for a natural gas distribution system because,
besides providing a backup in natural gas supply, they balance the difference between the demand, which varies
constantly, and the supply from the international ducts. Since usually LNG tanks are used to store huge amounts
of energy, which if uncontrollably deliberated could cause a major disaster, very sever requirements are imposed
concerning the ability of LNG tanks to withstand several prescribed accidental actions such as aircraft impacts,
explosions, fire, major leaks, earthquakes, etc. Especially for earthquakes, it is usually required that LNG tanks
should be able to sustain a major seismic event with a return period of over 5000 years without undergoing
catastrophic damage, while should remain fully operational during a medium seismic event with a return period
of 475 years. Design issues for the LNG tanks can be found in several specialized publications, e.g. [Bomhard
and Stempiniewski, 1993] and [Tajirian, 1998].

Besides their numerous applications in modern structural design, base isolation techniques find applications in
the seismic design of LNG tanks as well. The isolators usually implemented in LNG tanks are either rubber-type
bearings [Tajirian, 1993, Tajirian, 1998], such as the lead core rubber bearings and the high damping rubber
bearings, or sliding-type bearings such as the friction pendulum bearings [Zayas and Low, 1995, Tajirian, 1998].
As usually, base isolation aims at moving the dominant frequency of the isolated tank away from the dominant
frequency range of the earthquake acceleration spectrum [Buckle and Mayes, 1990].

In this work, the seismic response of two LNG tanks of different height-to-radius aspect ratio is investigated.
The two tanks are either fixed at their base (for comparison purposes) or isolated by two different base isolation
systems, i.e. high damping rubber bearings and lead core rubber bearings [Soong and Constantinou, 1994] and
are modelled within the finite element environment provided by the ANSYS software [ANSYS, 2004)]. Rubber

1
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Patras, 26500, Patras, Greece
Email : gregorio@upatras.gr
2
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Patras, 26500, Patras, Greece
Email: stsinop@upatras.gr
3
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Patras, 26500, Patras, Greece
Email: karabali@upatras.gr

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bearings are formed by alternating layers of hot vulcanized elastomer and steel shims. The elastomer layers
supply the necessary horizontal flexibility for the decoupling of the horizontal structural motion from the ground
motion, while the steel shims provide vertical stiffness. Adequate damping is made possible either via the
chemical composition of the elastomer, as in high damping rubber bearings, or through yielding of a lead
prismatic core placed at the center the bearing. This difference in the energy absorption mechanism is reflected
on the shape of the energy absorption loops, which for high damping rubber bearings are nearly viscoelastic
while for lead core rubber bearings exhibit an almost bilinear behavior.

The seismic excitation considered in this work is an artificial accelerogram compatible with the Eurocode 8
(EC8) provisions [European Committee for Standardisation, 2002] for soil type C. Selective results concerning
base shear force, sloshing and deflection of the inner steel container are presented for the two isolation systems
and the conventional fixed base conditions.

2. DESCRIPTION AND MODELING OF THE TANKS

In order to efficiently serve their many functions, e.g. keeping the content from escaping to the environment,
preventing the atmospheric air from entering the tank, maintaining the appropriate conditions of temperature,
pressure, and defending the liquid content against external effects such as earthquakes, fire and explosion, etc.,
LNG tanks are usually configured as a double shell, as shown in Figure 1. The outer prestressed concrete
cylindrical shell is capped by a spherical reinforced concrete dome while the inner steel cylindrical shell is open
at the top. In this work two such structures are analyzed the geometry of which is depicted in Figure 1. In both
cases, the outer shell is of constant thickness along its height, except from a small part near the base, which is
thicker, while the thickness of the inner shell increases from top to bottom. The space between the two shells is
filled with perlite to insure thermal insulation of the liquid content. The outer shell seats directly on a circular
foundation slab, while between the base of the inner container and the foundation slab lays a foam glass layer for
thermal insulation purposes. The analyses are based on the material properties listed in Table 1 and the
geometric characteristics presented in Table 2.

(a) (b)
Figure 1: General configuration of the analysed LNG tanks; (a) 100,000 m3 tank and (b) 60,000 m3 tank

Table 1: Material properties of analyzed LNG tanks

Young modulus Poisson ratio v Mass density ρ

E (GPa) (Kg/m3)
steel 210 0.3 7850
concrete 31 0.2 2500
LNG -- -- 480

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 Table 2: Geometric characteristics of analyzed LNG tanks

Description 100,000 m3 60,000 m3

inner tank height (m) 33.42 36.82
outer tank height (m) 37.30 39.95
inner tank middle radius (m) 32.5 23.605
outer tank outer radius (m) 34.30 25.405
minimum inner tank thickness (m) 0.0104 0.008
maximum inner tank thickness (m) 0.0305 0.0255
minimum outer tank thickness (m) 0.8 0.8
maximum outer tank thickness (m) 1.6 1.6

The seismic analysis of the selected LNG tanks is performed by means of the ANSYS finite element program
[ANSYS, 2004]. The outer and the inner shells as well as the dome and the foundation slab are modelled by 24-
DOF quadrilateral shell elements (4 nodes). The foam glass layer is modelled by 24-DOF solid elements (8
nodes). The fluid content is modelled by 24-DOF fluid elements (8 nodes). The fluid-structure interaction is
modelled by appropriate coupling equations applied at the nodal points on the fluid-structure interface.

3. MODELING OF THE ISOLATION SYSTEMS

The base isolation systems considered in this work consist of a number of similar rubber bearings “uniformly”
distributed under the foundation slab. The total number of required bearings is derived from the assumption that
a single bearing supports approximately 10-12 m2 of foundation slab at maximum. Hence, the estimated
optimum number of bearings is 340 and 190 for the 100,000 m3 and 60,000 m3 tank, respectively. In addition,
the target fundamental period of the structure, moving as an almost rigid body on the isolators, is chosen,
following standard practice, in the range of 2 sec.

The two base isolation systems studied in this work are modelled assuming that: (a) the forces applied from the
isolation devices to the existing foundation slab are uniformly distributed on the entire area of the slab, and (b)
the in-plane stiffness of the foundation slab is infinite. Based on these assumptions, the vertical stiffness of the
bearings can be simulated using Winckler type plate elements [ANSYS, 2004, Chopra, 1995], while the
horizontal stiffness of the bearings is represented by a single non-linear spring element connected to the center of
the slab, as illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Modeling of the isolation system

3.1 High damping rubber bearings

According to a preliminary design [Castellano, 2004] the proposed high damping rubber bearings are the SI-N
700/190 and SI-N 700/150 for the 100,000m3 and 60,000 m3 tank, respectively. A complete set of mechanical
characteristics for these two devices can be found in [Castellano, 2004], while those required for the present
analyses are listed in Table 3.

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 Table 3: Engineering characteristics of SI-N 700/150 and SI-N 700/190

SI-N 700/150 SI-N 700/190

Vertical stiffness Kv (KN/mm) 1732 1367
Overall plane area A (mm) 383525 383525
Total design elastomer thickness te (mm) 150 190
Maximum seismic displacement de (mm) 300 300

The distributed elastic foundation stiffness (EFS), which is required by the Winckler model, i.e. the pressure
required to produce a unit normal deflection of the foundation, can be computed as

N * Kv
EFS = (1)
As

where N is the number of the installed isolators, Kv the vertical stiffness of each isolator and As the area of the
foundation slab. For the 100,000m3 and 60,000 m3 tanks studied in this work, the EFS values resulting from Eq.
(1) are 114.154 MPa/m and 143.689 MPa/m, respectively.

The total horizontal stiffness of the high damping rubber bearings is simulated using a single non-linear spring
connected to the centre of the slab. The non-linear force-displacement relation of the spring, attached to the
center of the foundation slab, simulating the total horizontal stiffness of the high damping rubber bearings is
determined from the experimental measurements provided by FIP Industriale [Castellano, 2004] concerning the
tangent modulus G as a function of shear deformation γ for the SI-N series of isolators. An analytic relationship
of the form [Dusi and Rebecchi, 1999]

dτ
G (γ ) = = Ginf + (G0 − Ginf )e −bγ (2)
dγ

is assumed to describe the tangent modulus G (γ). By fitting Eq. (2) to the experimental data, the following
values for the constants are derived: G0=2.08, Ginf=0.8 and b=4.35. The compliance of the experimental
measurements to the analytical curve of Eq. (2) is illustrated in Figure 3.
2.2

2.0 -bγ
G = Ginf +(G0-Ginf)e
G0=0.8, Ginf=2.08 and b = 4.35
1.8

1.6 Experimental
G, Mpa

1.4

1.2

1.0

0.8

0.6
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0
γ
Figure 3: Tangent modulus G as a function of shear deformation γ for SI-N series isolators

Integrating Eq. (2) with respect to shear deformation γ and taking into account that

δ
γ =
te (3)
f =τ ⋅ A

the force-displacement relation of the spring can be written as

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 ⎡ −b ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ ⎤
⎛δ ⎞
NA ⎢ ⎛δ ⎞
G0 − Ginf + b⎜⎜ ⎟⎟Ginf + (Ginf − G0 )e ⎝ e ⎠ ⎥ .
t
f = (4)
b ⎢ ⎝ te ⎠ ⎥
⎣⎢ ⎦⎥

with δ, f, te and A being the horizontal displacement, horizontal force, total elastomer thickness and cross-
sectional area of the bearing , respectively.

3.2 Lead core rubber bearings

The horizontal stiffness of the lead core rubber bearings is simulated by a bilinear elastoplastic spring, as shown
in Figure 4. The values of Kel, Kpl and Fy parameters, corresponding to the to the desired fundamental period
of 2 sec and to an assumed percentage of critical damping ξ=40%, are listed in Table 4. The vertical stiffness of
lead core rubber bearings is taken equal to that computed for the high damping rubber bearings.

Fy Kpl

Kel

δ
Figure 4: Bilinear spring used for the modelling of the horizontal stiffness of the lead core rubber bearings

Table 4: Bilinear spring parameters corresponding to a 2 sec fundamental period

Kel [Nt/m] Kpl [Nt/m] Fy [Nt]

100 000 m3 61.05x108 5.55x108 4.77x107
60 000 m3 37.95x108 3.45x108 2.97x107

4. NUMERICAL RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Time domain dynamic analyses of the two chosen LNG tanks are preformed with non-linearities concentrated at
the spring simulating the horizontal stiffness of the isolation system. The linear acceleration method is used for
the integration of the equations of motion in conjunction with the full Newton-Raphson method for the solution
of the resulting non-linear system of equations.

Selective results of the analyses are presented in the following. In Figure 5, the base shear force below the
foundation slab versus the corresponding base displacement is plotted for each isolation case. In Figure 6, the
total base shear force just above the foundation slab is plotted versus time, and for comparison purposes, similar
results for the non-isolated case (fixed base conditions) is also shown. In Figure 7, time histories of base
displacement are plotted for each isolation case. The time history of the horizontal displacement, relative to the
base, of the inner shell at the fluid free surface level is plotted versus time in Figure 8, for the isolated and the
non-isolated (fixed base conditions) tanks. Similarly, in Figure 9 the relative displacement at 2/3 of the height of
the inner shell, where the maximum deflection is observed, is displayed. Finally, in Figure 10 the wave height at
the intersection of the fluid free surface and the inner shell is plotted versus time for each isolation case and fixed
base conditions.

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For completeness purposes, a modal analysis has been performed for the fixed base boundary conditions. The
eigenfrequencies of the most important horizontal modes, based on the mass participation factor (MPF), are
listed in Table 5.

Table 5: Eigenfrequencies for fixed base conditions

100,000 m3 60,000 m3
Eigenfrequency 1st 2nd 1st 2nd
f (Hz) 7.62 8.65 7.35 17.90
Outer tank
MPF (%) 54.3 19.1 72.0 9.8
Inner tank f (Hz) 0.11 2.19 2.28 0.14
(full) MPF (%) 48.95 48.7 63.7 32.7

100 high damping rubber bearings

100 high damping rubber bearings
base shear force (MNt)

base shear force (MNt)

50 50

0 0

-50 -50

-100 -100
-0.2 -0.1 0.0 0.1 0.2 -0.2 -0.1 0.0 0.1 0.2
base displacement (m) base displacement (m)

100 100
lead rubber bearings lead rubber bearings
base shear force (MNt)
base shear force (MNt)

50 50

0 0

-50 -50

-100 -100
-0.2 -0.1 0.0 0.1 0.2 -0.2 -0.1 0.0 0.1 0.2
base displacement (m) base displacement (m)
(a) (b)
Figure 5: Base shear force below the foundation slab versus base displacement for each isolation case:
(a) 100,000 m3 tank, (b) 60,000 m3 tank

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 600 600
non-isolated fixed base conditions
non-isolated fixed base conditions
high damping rubber bearings
high damping rubber bearings
base shear force (MNt)

base shear force (MNt)

400 400

200 200

0 0

-200 -200

-400 -400

-600 -600
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
time (sec) time (sec)
600
600 non-isolated fixed base conditions
non-isolated fixed base conditions lead rubber bearings

base shear force (MNt)

lead rubber bearings
base shear force (MNt)

400
400

200
200

0
0

-200
-200

-400
-400

-600 -600
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

time (sec) time (sec)

(a) (b)
Figure 6: Total base shear just above the foundation slab, versus time, for the isolated and the non-
isolated (fixed base conditions) cases: (a) 100,000 m3 tank, (b) 60,000 m3 tank

high damping rubber bearings high damping rubber bearings

0.2 0.2
base displacement (m)
base displacement (m)

0.1 0.1

0.0 0.0

-0.1 -0.1

-0.2 -0.2

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
time (sec) time (sec)

lead rubber bearings

0.2 0.2
base displacement (m)

base displacement (m)

lead rubber bearings

0.1 0.1

0.0 0.0

-0.1 -0.1

-0.2 -0.2

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
time (sec) time (sec)
(a) (b)
Figure 7: Base displacement for each isolation case: (a) 100,000 m3 tank, (b) 60,000 m3 tank

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 0.08

displacement relative to the base (m)

0.08

displacement relative to the base (m)

non-isolated fixed base conditions non-isolated fixed base conditions
high damping rubber bearings
0.06 0.06 high damping rubber bearings

0.04 0.04
0.02 0.02
0.00 0.00

-0.02 -0.02

-0.04 -0.04

-0.06 -0.06

-0.08 -0.08
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
time (sec) time (sec)
0.08
displacement relative to the base (m)

non-isolated fixed base conditions 0.08

displacement relative to the base (m)

lead rubber bearings non-isolated fixed base conditions
0.06 lead rubber bearings
0.06
0.04
0.04
0.02 0.02
0.00 0.00
-0.02 -0.02
-0.04 -0.04

-0.06 -0.06

-0.08 -0.08
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
time (sec) time (sec)

(a) (b)
Figure 8: Displacement, relative to the base, of the inner shell at the fluid free surface level versus time:
(a) 100,000 m3 tank, (b) 60,000 m3 tank
displacement relative to the base (m)

0.10 0.10
displacement relative to the base (m)

non-isolated fixed base conditions

high damping rubber bearings non-isolated fixed base conditions
high damping rubber bearings

0.05 0.05

0.00 0.00

-0.05 -0.05

-0.10 -0.10
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

time (sec) time (sec)

0.10 0.10
displacement relative to the base (m)
displacement relative to the base (m)

non-isolated fixed base conditions

non-isolated fixed base conditions
lead rubber bearings
lead rubber bearings

0.05 0.05

0.00 0.00

-0.05 -0.05

-0.10 -0.10
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
time (sec) time (sec)
(a) (b)
Figure 9: Displacement, relative to the base, of the inner shell at 2/3 of its height versus time:
(a) 100,000 m3 tank, (b) 60,000 m3 tank

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 1.6 non-isolated fixed base conditions 1.6 non-isolated fixed base conditions
high damping rubber bearings high damping rubber bearings
1.4 1.4
1.2 1.2
1.0 1.0

wave height (m)

wave height (m)

0.8 0.8
0.6 0.6
0.4 0.4
0.2 0.2
0.0 0.0
-0.2 -0.2
-0.4 -0.4
-0.6 -0.6
-0.8 -0.8
-1.0 -1.0
-1.2 -1.2
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

time (sec) time (sec)

1.6 1.6 non-isolated fixed base conditions

1.4 non-isolated fixed base conditions
1.4 lead rubber bearings
1.2 lead rubber bearings 1.2
1.0 1.0

wave height (m)

wave height (m)

0.8 0.8
0.6 0.6
0.4 0.4
0.2 0.2
0.0 0.0
-0.2 -0.2
-0.4 -0.4
-0.6 -0.6
-0.8 -0.8
-1.0 -1.0
-1.2 -1.2
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
time (sec) time (sec)
(a) (b)
Figure 10: Wave height time histories at the intersection of the fluid free surface and the inner shell: (a)
100,000 m3 tank, (b) 60,000 m3 tank

In view of the results shown in Figures 5-10, a series of conclusions can be made concerning the most prominent
design parameters. In terms of base shear force, reductions of the order of 70% are calculated for both isolation
systems investigated in this work. Similarly, maximum stresses in the inner shell are reduced by approximately
60%, in comparison to the non-isolated case where fixed base conditions are considered. However, in Figure 10
an increase of the sloshing height, in comparison to the non-isolated tank, is observed, particularly in the high
damping rubber bearing isolation case. This is due to the fact that the motion of the liquid free surface can be
viewed as a synthesis of the natural sloshing motion (free vibration) and the motion of the base (forced
vibration). Concerning the high damping rubber bearing isolation case, the base displacement time history of
Figure 7 is characterized by a unique dominant period of 2.04 sec, which is very close to the target isolation
period of 2.00 sec. Thus, the wave height time history of Figure 10 appears as the superposition of mainly two
harmonic motions, the first one being the sloshing motion itself while the second exhibits the same period as the
base motion at a rather large amplitude. Quite differently, for the case of lead core rubber bearings, there is no
unique dominant frequency characterising the base motion of the tank but rather a series of significant
frequencies of comparatively small amplitude. The difference in the base motion characteristics between the two
cases is explained by the different mechanical behavior of the two bearing types, i.e., while the high damping
rubber bearings exhibit a weak nonlinear behavior, the lead core rubber bearings demonstrate a rather strong
nonlinear behavior. In conclusion, the use of lead core rubber bearings results to a more effective isolation of
liquid storage tanks of the type studied in this work.

5. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding of the cooperative Research Project INDEPTH (Development of
Innovative Devices for Seismic Protection of Petrochemical Facilities) by the European Commission – Research
Directorate General under the Environment and Sustainable Development Programme of the Fifth Framework
Programme (contract No. EVG-CT-2002-00065).

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Buckle, I.G. and Mayes R.L. (1990), Seismic Isolation History, Application, and Performance - a World View,
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Castellano M.G., (2004), Preliminary design of elastomeric isolators for LNG tanks, INDEPTH Document IDP-
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Chopra, A.K. (1995), Dynamics of Structures: Theory and Applications to Earthquake Engineering, Prentice-
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