Designing your storage tank to resist calculated loads
There's a lot of information available on designing storage tanks. But how do you properly use the information to ensure your tank can resist the vertical and lateral loads exerted on it? This article discusses how to adapt portions of published codes to design a tank that handles your loading conditions without being expensively overdesigned or dangerously underdesigned. The first sections cover calculations for shell strength and vertical compression, lateral tension, and roof design. The final sections provide a tank design example and explain how to implement these design calculations.
After calculating loads on your storage tank, the critical part of the design process is designing the tank shell, roof, and base to resist these loads. [Editor's note: This article doesn't cover calculating the loads. Find more information in published sources or contact a storage equipment consultant or supplier.]