Flood induced material failure in anchored aboveground atmospheric storage tanks

Material failures – yielding and rupture – in shell and bottom plates in anchored above ground storage tanks’ (ASTs) during flood events were investigated. A finite element simulation-based approach was used wherein, first, design parameters such as tank diameter, relative density and height of stored contents, yield strength, inundation depth and bottom plate thickness were sampled using Latin Hypercube Sampling (LHS). For each design parameter combination, an AST was designed as per API 650 and maximum von mises stresses in bottom plate and tank shell were determined from finite element analysis for 1000 tanks and were compared against two different failure thresholds corresponding to material yielding and rupture (maximum of 1.6 yield stress or 480 MPa). Herein, LS-Dyna, a finite element software, was used on a high performance computing cluster at Louisiana State University to perform the simulations. The dataset contains simulation output from the finite element analysis. This data can be used by researchers to advance the understanding on performance of above ground storage tanks. Furthermore, this data set can also be used by researchers using machine learning techniques for natural hazards research.