Dynamic analysis of reinforced concrete water tanks under blast considering fluid-structure interaction

The present study investigates the blast effect on hoop stresses and displacements created on the wall of over-ground cylindrical reinforced concrete water storage tanks and the effect of blast waves, fluid surface motion, and the surface tension of water due to water-structure interaction using ABAQUS software. Three tanks with heights of 4, 6, and 8 m and a fixed radius of 3 m were used for simulation, each of which was filled with 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100% water from the depth of the tank. The results revealed that the above parameters affect the tank structure’s dynamic response so that the surface tension of water is higher in tanks with 50% water filling. Also, increasing the water filling percentage, the hardness of the tank increased and decreased the tank wall displacement by 31.25% for a filled tank compared to an empty tank. Water filling also reduced the sensitivity of tanks to instability. The results showed that the tank wall’s hoop stresses were affected by blast waves from the outside and water tension from the inside, so that the water tension in the tank caused an approximate 20 MPa increase in the hoop stresses on the wall.