Wind loads on large cylindrical open-topped tanks in group

Vertical cylindrical tanks for fluid and bulk storage are generally with very thin wall so they are very susceptible to buckling under wind loads. One of the main challenges for designers is the scarcity of reliable wind loads on tanks. A particular case of wind loads on tanks may occur when a tank is situated at the corner of a group in tank farm or distribution station, since it is expected to be loaded by different wind pressures compared with those of an isolated tank. In this paper, a large number of wind tunnel tests are conducted to investigate the wind loads on vertical cylindrical open-topped tanks in group, with main focus on the grouping effect of large cylindrical tanks with a very low aspect ratio. Three types of tank groups are covered in this study: two adjacent tanks including tandem, parallel and staggered configurations, three adjacent tanks in triangular array and four adjacent tanks in square array. The effects of spacing between tanks and wind attack angle on wind pressure distributions of both external and internal wall are investigated, and the difference of wind loads on tanks in a group compared with those on an isolated tank is discussed.