Steel Structures for Special 

Buildings
Dr. Dragos VOICULESCU
(dravoi@hotmail.com)
A. Steel Plate Structures
A.1. Storage Tanks
 What is a (storage) Tank? 
• A site assembled, steel plate structure used to 
store a liquid product. 
 1. Background

• Steel tanks have been around since the beginning 
of oil production. They vary considerably, in type 
and size, based on the type of products to be 
stored and the volume involved.

• The failure of a tank can have several undesirable 
effects such as endangering personnel, affecting 
the environment and interrupting the Operator’s 
business.
• Therefore it is required a consistent approach for 
assessing tank integrity and maintaining 
compliance with industry and regulatory 
standards. Such an approach must:

1. Ensure tanks are not leaking and will not leak 
before next inspection
2. Reduce the potential for releases
3. Maintain tanks in safe operating conditions, 
and
4. Make repairs and determine when replacement 
is necessary.
• The primary function of a storage tank is to 
store liquid substance.  

• Storage of liquid materials is commonly 
accomplished in industrial plants by use of 
cylindrical, spherical or rectangular tanks.

• These tanks may be constructed of wood, 
concrete, or metal, with metal being the most 
common material of construction.
 Steel Tank Dimensional and 
General Characteristics 
• Constructed from steel plate between 5mm and 
75mm thick. 
• Diameters from 5m to 100m. 
• Heights from 3m to 70+ m, where height is the 
product height. 
• Standpipe – tank with a height > its diameter. 
• Reservoir – tank with a diameter > its height. 
• Tanks are mostly round, not square. Square tanks 
require significant external stiffening.
Storage tanks can be divided into the following types:

1. Atmospheric storage tanks

2. Pressure storage tanks

3. Refrigerated storage tanks
 2. Atmospheric Storage Tanks

• Applied to all tanks operating at or near 
atmospheric pressure.

• They are used to hold liquids which will not 
vaporize at ambient temperature. 

• Tanks used in this category are primarily the 
open top, fixed roof (cone & dome) and 
floating roof.
 a.     Open top (no roof) 

Tanks in this type have no roof and may store

or process non‐volatile liquids such as water,
brine, etc.
 b.     Fixed roof 

Fixed roof tanks, such as cone roof or dome

roof are used to store low vapor pressure
liquids which will not vaporize at temperature
below 50oC.

Generally used for oil, water, chemicals.

Cone Roof Tank
Dome Roof Tank
 c.     Floating roof 

Floating roof such as hard top pan and

pontoon roof types eliminate the vapor space
above the liquid, allows storage of higher
vapor pressure fluids.

Generally used for crude oil, gasoline, napthas

Hard Top Pan Floating Roof Tank
Pontoon Roof Tank
 3. Pressure Storage Tanks

• applies to vessels designed to withstand

pressures sufficient to keep liquid stored from
vaporizing.

• Used for high vapor pressure liquid such as

butane, propane etc.
Typical pressure storage tank shape: Sphere

Generally used to store high vapor pressure

liquid.

Main advantage is that it can contain the

greatest amount of liquid for a given amount
of steel.

A sphere shape can also withstand greater

pressures with a given plate thickness than
cylindrical vessels.
 4.  Refrigerated Storage Tanks
• Refers to low temperature/cryogenic storage

• This type is used for liquefied gases.

• In cryogenic storage the gas is at, or near to,

atmospheric pressure and remains liquid
because of low temperature.

• Cryogenic refers to temperature below ‐10oC

5. Location of tanks

• Above ground
– Horizontal storage tanks
– Vertical storage tanks

• Underground
– Horizontal storage tanks
 6. Typical Foundation Types
Surface, subsurface and climatic conditions vary
from place to place, so it is not practical to
establish design data to cover all situations.

The allowable soil loading and exact type of

subsurface construction to be used must be
decided for each individual case after careful
consideration.
• Conditions that require special engineering 
consideration are as follows:
– site on hillsides – undisturbed/ land filled

– sites at swampy or filled ground
– sites underlain by soils, such as organic clays that 
will settle over long period and can cause lateral 
ground stability problem
– site adjacent to water courses or deep excavation

– site exposed to flood water

– site in regions of high seismicity
 A. Earth foundation without a 
ringwall

When subsurface conditions shows adequate

bearing capacity and the settlements will be
acceptable, satisfactory foundations may be
constructed from earth material.
• For small tanks, foundations can consist of
compacted crushed stone, screenings, fine
gravel, clean sand, or similar material placed
directly on virgin soil.
 B. Earth foundation with a 
reinforced concrete ringwall
• When there is some doubt whether a
foundation will be able to carry the load
directly, a reinforced concrete ring wall
foundation should be used.

• Applied for large tanks, with heavy or tall shell

and/or self‐supported roofs which impose a
substantial load on the foundation under the
shell.
• Advantages of concrete ringwall are:
– It provides better distribution of the concentrated
load of the shell to produce a more uniform soil
loading under the tank
– It provides a level, solid starting plane for the shell
– It is capable of preserving its contour during
construction
– It retains the fill under the tank bottom and prevents
loss of material as a result of erosion
– It minimizes moisture under the tank
– it can more smoothly accommodate differential
settlement because of its flexibility
 C. Slab Foundations
• The concrete slab foundation has the
advantages of the concrete ringwall but is
usually limited to tanks with diameters less
than 10 m. Often the edge of the slab will be
sufficiently thick to provide for anchorage. A
slab foundation is very versatile, but its high
cost limits it to use in small tanks. The slab
provides a level and plane‐working surface
that facilitates rapid field erection.
 D. Pile Foundations
• The pile‐supported foundation is usually
found where the soil bearing pressures are
very low.

• They are also used where high foundation

uplift forces are encountered resulting from
internal pressure or seismic loading.
 7. Leak detection
• a Release Prevention Barrier (RPB) should be
installed under new tanks during initial
construction.

• An RPB includes steel bottoms, synthetic

materials, clay liners, and all other barriers or
combination of barriers placed in the bottom
of or under an above ground storage tank
• Functions of a Release Prevention Barrier

– preventing the escape of the contained material 
and

– channeling the released material for leak 
detection
Typical foundation details

(with Release Prevention Barrier)
 8. Tank Structure
• Bottom/ Floor design 

– Designed to permit complete draw‐off, to

minimize product contact and to utilize the
maximum tank capacity

– To prevent corrosion of the bottom plate.

There are two types of tank flooring :

> Cone down bottom (Bottom down)

Generally, bottom down is used for cone roof tanks.

Centre of the flooring is installed with a drain pit. Water
in the tank – from condensation – is accumulated in the
pit (lowest point of the bottom plate/floor).
> Cone up bottom (bottom up)

Generally, this type of design is used for floating‐roof

tanks, 3 to 4 collector pits are installed, close to the
shell plate. Each of the pit is provided with a water
draw‐off line.
• Bottom plates

– All bottom plates shall have a minimum nominal 
thickness of 6 mm exclusive of any corrosion 
allowance specified by the owner.

– Annular plates shall be at least 8 mm thick.

– Bottom shell plate shall have a minimum nominal 
width of 1800 mm
• Attachment to shell

– The connection between the bottom edge of the

lowest course of the shell plates and the bottom
annular plates shall be continuous fillet weld on
both side of the shell plates.
• Joints in tank bottom plates

– All joint in bottom plates shall be lapped. The

minimum lap shall be five times the thickness of
the plate.

– There shall be a minimum lap of 65 mm between

the bottom plates and the bottom annular plates.
• Shell Design
– The bottom course shall have a minimum height 
of 1800 mm and a minimum thickness of 8 mm.

– The nominal thickness of the shell plates shall not 
exceed 40 mm. The minimum shell thickness shall 
be:
• 6 mm for tanks of less than 33 m in diameter
• 8 mm for tanks of 33 m up to and including 60 m in 
diameter,
• 10 mm for tanks over 60 m in diameter.
• Shell openings
All openings larger than 80 mm in diameter shall be
reinforced.
• Pipe connections
Pipes are connected to the nozzles of tanks shells in
such a way that no significant bending moments or
loads act on the nozzle. For bigger lines, use of
additional supports should be considered.
• Clean‐out doors
If required for tanks made of carbon steel, clean out 
doors shall be designed and fabricated. This is more 
for sludge removal and to allow entry of a conveyor 
belt, if required.
• Earthing/ Lightning Arrestors
All tanks shall be fitted with earthing bosses and 
lightening arrestors
• Stairways, handrails, etc.
Vertical tanks should be provided with spiral 
stairways. 
An exception may be made for groups of tanks of less
than 12.5 m diameter sited close together and
connected by walkways at roof level. In such groups,
two tanks at opposite ends of each group shall be
provided with stairways, so that each tank in that
group will then have at least two escape routes from
the roof.
Handrails shall be provided at
the edge of the roof for full
circumference of all fixed roof
tanks and to the centre of the
roof on all tanks over 12.5 m
diameter. Handrails shall be
provided on the outside of all
spiral stairways.
For open top tanks, the inside of
the staircases shall also be
provided with a handrail in the
immediate vicinity of the top
landing.