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TANKS THAT FAILED DUE TO EARTHQUAKE

There are two main modes of failure in tanks during earthquakes: elephant foot buckling and buckling at the top of the shell. Tanks are more vulnerable to earthquakes when they are full of liquid.

 Elephant-foot buckling mode in a tank, Northridge earthquake, California.

 

Elephant-foot buckling mode in a tank, Pisco earthquake, Peru, 2007.

 

Buckling of the top part of tanks, Northridge earthquake, California.
   
This research was supported by NSF-CCLI, DUE-0736828: "A Computer-Based Simulated Environment to Learn on Structural Failures in Engineering"