Design for tank

• Water storage tanks, swimming pools, and effluent treatment tanks are few
examples where we use RCC.
• Components of RCC tank (walls and slabs ) need to be designed to resist hydrostatic
pressure induced by the liquid stored in the tank and the external soil pressure in the
case of below ground level tanks.
• The effect of lateral load such as wind and earthquake should also be considered,
wherever relevant.
• When liquids are filled with other liquids such as oil, petroleum products and
chemicals or hot liquids are stored, special consideration may be taken as reference,
in order to estimate lateral pressures induced and thermal effects and to ensure
durability of concrete in the presence of possibly aggressive chemical attack.
• Crack width control majorly govern the design of RC tanks for storage of liquids.
 Types of tank
Liquid storage tanks can be classified into 3
categories:
1. Overhead tank
2. On-ground tank
3. Underground tank
Overhead tanks are usually used when
there is a need for a pressure head (for
distributing stored water in various
locations using gravity). Regular tanks kept
on roof of building are not overhead tanks.
These tanks generally have capacity of
25000 to 500000 litres.
Intze tank are consist of spherical dome, top ring
beam, a cylindrical side wall, bottom ring beam,
bottom circular girder, staging and foundation.

Underground tanks are usually used to store water

and their size could vary from small tank to very
large tank.

On-ground tanks are usually used in water

treatment and sewage treatment plants, and in
chemical storage facilities. These are typically
circular and rectangular in shape

Rectangular tanks provided below ground , on-

ground or on rooftops may comprise single cell or
multiple cells
 Structural action
• There are two major components of tank: wall and base slab. Hydraostatic pressure
acts on the wall in a linear manner.
• The maximum pressure act at the base of the tank and will also act vertically on the
floor slab as a UDL.
• If the tank is situated on the ground or below the ground level, the water pressure
acting downward on the floor slab will get equilibrated by an equal and opposite soil
pressure acting upward on the floor slab and hence will not cause any flexure on the
floor slab.
• If the side wall is rigidly connected to the base of the tank (as is the usual case), there
will be significant bending moment at the base of the wall which will get transmitted
to the floor slab.
• At the outward, side walls will have shear forces at the wall base that cause direct in
plane tension in the floor slab.
 Structural action
• These moments and direct forces should be taken into account while designing the
floor slab of a tank.
• When tank is below ground, its lateral water pressure will get counteracted by
external soil pressure on the wall and this may reduce the moments and direct forces
in the walls and floor slabs.
• When tank is below ground and GWT is above the base of the tank, the floor slab will
have to be designed to resist the flexural action caused by the ground water pressure
acting upwards.
• The main structural actions developd in the walls are direct tension or compression
and flexural action (involving BM and SF).
• In cylindrical tank walls, the predominant structural action is hoop tension (in the
circumferential direction) as well as bending (and shear) in the vertical direction due
to hydrostatic pressure.
 Structural action
• In the case of rectangular tank walls, there is both bending and associated shear in
both vertical and horizontal directions; in addition, there is direct tension in the
horizontal direction.
• Adequate steel reinforcement need to be provided in the design to resist the actions
of direct tension an flexural tension, with special attention given to crack control.
 Design considerations
Concrete: in the revised IS 3370 (PART 1 ) 2021, the exposure condition for inside of the
tank has been identified as ‘severe’ whereas minimum grade of concrete is specified as
M30 for reinforced concrete tank (with min cement content of 350 kg/m3 and
maximum free w/c of 0.45). However for small tanks (less than 50 m3 capacity) located
in non-coastal areas, the code permits the use of M25 concrete.
The nominal cover to reinforcement using M30 concrete is 45 mm and this is the
minimum cover applicable in liquid storage structures, including roof slab.
Steel: high strength deformed bars are preferred to plain round mild steel bars in liquid
retaining structures due to increased strength and bond resistance. Crack control is
especially needed in the surface zones and the reinforcement provided in the surface
zone is considered effective up to a thickness of 250 mm.
 Limit state method of design
• For design of water tank, assume a rectangular tank wall in which bending moment
and direct tension is acting in the horizontal direction. According to IS code, it is
convenient and conservative to assume a linear interaction between flexural capacity
and direct tension capacity as expressed by the following:
𝑁𝑢 𝑀𝑢
+ ≤ 1.0
𝑁𝑢0 𝑀 𝑢𝑅
Where Nu and Mu are applied factored direct tension and bending moment values
respectively. Nu0 is the capacity in direct tension alone (0.87fyAst). MuR is the ultimate
moment capacity of the section in flexure alone.
 Limit state method of design
• Limiting crack width: a maximum calculated surface crack width of 0.2 mm has been
specified in the code.
• In the 2021 code, three categories of tightness class has been introduced:
• Tightness class-1: refer to the tank elements where cracks are expected to pass
through the full thickness of the section, for which the limiting crack width shall be
0.2 mm.
• Tightness class-2: is applicable when liners and water bars are incorporated to
prevent leakage of liquid or the limiting crack width is taken as 0.1 mm.
• Tightness class-3: is applicable when cracks do not pass through full thickness with
atleast 50 mm compression zone is available.
• The limiting crack width of 0.1 mm can be exceeded by 0.05 mm in tank elements
whose H/t ratio is 20 or less.
 Design of cylindrical tanks
• In cylindrical tanks, the wall is subjected to
hoop tension along with bending moment
in a vertical direction.
• If we provide an ideal flexible joint at the
base of the wall (in terms of rubber pad or
something), this will permit horizontal
translation, then the wall will be free of
flexural action, and the wall will resist the
hydrostatic pressure entirely through hoop
tension.
• γzR is the value of hoop tension as the hoop
tension will vary linearly from zero at the
top and maximum at the bottom.
• But in actual practice, it is not practical to
provide base of tank with some rubber pad.
This is just for making the problem simpler.
 Design of cylindrical tanks
• In actual practice, the slab below the
wall need to thickened more so that
there will be horizontal shear forces and
bending moment along the height of the
wall, while reducing the hoop tension.
• For proportioning of the tank wall
thickness of a cylindrical tank, the
guidelines commonly adopoted is:
• t = 0.03H + 50
• Where t and H denotes the wall
thickness and height of the tank (mm)
 Design of cylindrical water tank
Design a cylindrical water tank of capacity 300 m3 with a height of 4 m, resting on ground, assuming an
ideal sliding joint a base of the wall, and assume the tank to be open at the top. Consider a limiting crack
width of 0.1 mm. Assume M30 concrete and Fe 500 steel.
Solution:
Step-1 Tank dimension
Assuming a free board of 200 mm
Total water depth = 4-0.2 = 3.8 m.
Plan area required, V = area*length
Therefore, Area = V/length = 300/3.8 = 78.95 m2.
 Design of cylindrical water tank
For proportioning the tank wall thickness of a cylindrical tank, the formula commonly adopted is actually a
linear function adopted from the literatures.
t = 0.03H+50
= 0.03×4000+50 = 170 mm

2
= Area  d
4
4 78.95
= d 10.03m


R = 5.05 m
 Design of cylindrical water tank
Minimum reinforcement: as per clause 8.1.1 [IS 3370 part-2], min steel required is 0.24% for ground
supported tank with length ≤ 14 m.
This 0.24% area of reinforcement value is to be applied to the area of concrete in surface zones (each
surface zone has a thickness of t/2). The %age should be applied to gross area of concrete and normally
adopted as 0.6%.
Amin = (0.6/100)×170×1000 = 1020 mm2/m

Design of horizontal reinforcement in wall for hoop tension

Hoop tension in the wall, Nmax = ƳHd/2 [Ƴ = 10 kN/m3 Unit wt of water]
= (10×4×10.03)/2 = 202 kN/m
The factored hoop tension, Nu,max = 1.5×202 = 303 kN/m.
Area of circumferential steel required using Fe 500
Nu,max = 0.87fy Ah
 Design of cylindrical water tank

N u ,max 303 103

Ah   697mm 2 / m
0.87 f y 0.87 500

Providing 12 mm diameter bar in one layer, required spacing =


(12) 2 1000
4 110.9mm
Ast ,mim 1020

Hence provide 12 mm diameter bar @ 110 mm c/c.


(12) 2 1000
Ast , provided  4 1028 mm 2 / min
spacing
Crack width control check under direct tension
Tensile stress in steel under service load, σ = P/A
= (202X10^3)/1028 = 196.46 Mpa
This exceeds a the limiting tensile stress in steel of 130 Mpa (for high strength deformed bars) as
per IS code for a crack width of 0.2 mm. (100 Mpa for a crack width of 0.1 mm); hence a rigorous
crack width check is needed in our case.
Considering a crack width limit of 0.1 mm (IS 3370 PART 2 ANNEXURE B)
w = 3acr εm ………………………………………………………………………………(A)
= 3acr (ε1 – ε2) = 0.1 mm
acr = distance from the point of stress considered to the surface of the nearest longitudinal bar
Empirical relation of acr has been proposed in many experimental studies and the one commonly
adopted is
2
s d
acr     d c 2  b
 2 2 ; s= spacing; d = bar dia; d = (thickness of wall/2)
b c
 2
According to the question,  110  170 2 12 = 95.24 mm
acr     ( ) 
 2  2 2

Refer B-6 from IS 3370 part 2

 m  1   2 ………………….(B)
εm is the average strain at the level where cracking is being considered which accounts for the effect
of tension stiffening [tension stiffening is the phenomena in which concrete between cracks continues to contribute to the overall
stiffness even after cracking, due to the bond between reinforcement and the surrounding concrete]

ε1 is the apparent strain at the point under consideration

ε2 is the reduction due to tension stiffening effect.
bt t 1000 170
2   5
0.000827
Es Ah (2 10 ) 1028

According to Eq. (B),

 1  m   2
 w
= 2
3acr
0.1
 0.000827
= 3 95.24 = 0.00117 < 0.67fy/Es (as mentioned in B-4 of IS Code)

Allowable stress in steel, fst = Es ε1 = (2×105) × (0.00117) = 235.4 Mpa (allowable) > 196.40 Mpa, Hence OK.

Design of vertical reinforcement in wall for flexure:

Min reinforcement of 0.6% of the gross area is adequate (to minimize the crack width due to temp and moisture effects)
For wall thickness of less than 200 mm, cl. 8.1.1 permits the placement of reinforcement in 1 layer.
Provide 12 mm dia bar @ 110 mm c/c (generally we provide same size of reinforcement for vertical as we provide in case
of horizontal
Design of ground slab:
For ground slabs having thickness of less than 200 mm, the code recommends that the minimum
reinforcement may be assessed considering thickness of 100 mm and placed in a single layer.
Adopt thickness of ground slab as 150 mm, but minimum steel requirement of 0.5% need to be
calculated over 100 mm thick surface zone, with steel provided near top – Cl. A-1.2
Min area of reinforcement = (0.5/100)*Ag (gross area)
= (0.5/100)*100*1000
= 500 mm2
Adopt 10 mm dia bars and the Ast will be 78.53 mm 2
Spacing = (78.53/500)*1000
=150 mm c/c

Therefore, provide 10 mm dia bars @ spacing 150 mm c/c at top and bottom.
Problem-2
Design the tank as discussed in the previous examples, considering a limiting crack width of 0.2 mm
in lieu of 0.1 mm (Fe 500 grade steel). Discuss the implication for this change. Assume minimum
%age of reinforcement of 0.195% for Fe500 steel.
Step-1 Tank dimension
Assuming a free board of 200 mm
Total water depth = 4-0.2 = 3.8 m.
Plan area required, V = area*length
Therefore, Area = V/length = 300/3.8 = 78.95 m2.
For proportioning the tank wall thickness of a cylindrical tank, the formula commonly adopted is actually a
linear function adopted from the literatures.
t = 0.03H+50
= 0.03×4000+50 = 170 mm

2
= Area  d
4
4 78.95
= d 10.03m


R = 5.05 m
Just assume that the tank is situated in an area where temperature remains around 25 C, thereore,
for a limiting crack width of 0.2 mm and using 12 mm dia bars, min reinforcement should be taken
as 0.30%.
0.3
Amin  170 1000 510 mm 2 / m
100

Design of horizontal reinforcement in wall for hoop tension

Area of circumferential steel required using Fe 500 grade steel
Hoop tension in the wall, Nmax = ƳHd/2 [Ƴ = 10 kN/m3 Unit wt of water]
= (10×4×10.03)/2 = 202 kN/m
The factored hoop tension, Nu,max = 1.5×202 = 303 kN/m.
Area of circumferential steel required using Fe 500
Nu,max = 0.87fy Ah
 Design of cylindrical water tank

N u ,max 303 103

Ah   697mm 2 / m
0.87 f y 0.87 500

Providing 12 mm diameter bar in one layer, required spacing =


(12) 2 1000
Ah  4 162 mm
696.5

Hence provide 12 mm diameter bar @ 160 mm c/c.


(12) 2 1000
Ah  4 706.86 mm 2 / min
spacing
Crack width control check under direct tension
Tensile stress in steel under service load, σ = P/Ah
= (202X10^3)/706.86 = 285.77 Mpa
This exceeds a the limiting tensile stress in steel of 130 Mpa (for high strength deformed bars) as
per IS code for a crack width of 0.2 mm. (100 Mpa for a crack width of 0.1 mm); hence a rigorous
crack width check is needed in our case.
Considering a crack width limit of 0.2 mm (IS 3370 PART 2 ANNEXURE B)
w = 3acr εm ………………………………………………………………………………(A)
= 3acr (ε1 – ε2) = 0.2 mm
acr = distance from the point of stress considered to the surface of the nearest longitudinal bar
Empirical relation of acr has been proposed in many experimental studies and the one commonly
adopted is
2
s d
acr     d c 2  b
 2 2 ; s= spacing; d = bar dia; d = (thickness of wall/2)
b c
 2
According to the question,  160  170 2 12 = 110.7 mm
acr     ( ) 
 2  2 2

Refer B-6 from IS 3370 part 2

 m  1   2 ………………….(B)
εm is the average strain at the level where cracking is being considered which accounts for the effect
of tension stiffening [tension stiffening is the phenomena in which concrete between cracks continues to contribute to the overall
stiffness even after cracking, due to the bond between reinforcement and the surrounding concrete]

ε1 is the apparent strain at the point under consideration

ε2 is the reduction due to tension stiffening effect.
2bt t 2 1000 170
2   0.000802
3Es Ah 3 (2 105 ) 706.86

According to Eq. (B),

 1  m   2
 w
= 2
3acr
0.2
 0.000802
= 3 110.7 = 0.001404 > 0.5fy/Es = 0.00125 (as mentioned in B-6 of IS Code)

The satisfaction of above requirement is not as per IS code, therefore, the requirement can be met by reducing the bar

spacing. Lets reduce the bar spacing from 160 mm to 100 mm. The corresponding value of ε1 works out to be 0.001221

Allowable stress in steel, fst = Es ε1 = (2×105) × (0.001221) = 244.17 Mpa (allowable) > 178.60 Mpa (as per revised bar

arrangement), Hence OK.

Rest of the design wil remain same…………………………………

 Design of rectangular tank
• For a large area, rectangular tanks are uneconomical in comparison with cylindrical tanks.
• The walls of rectangular tanks are typically subjected to bending in the vertical and horizontal directions,
combined with in plane tension in the horizontal direction.
• The stress resultant due to hydrostatic pressure can be computed either by FEM (in design offices) or by
applying the moment and shear coefficients using IS 3370 (PART 4), assuming various boundary conditions.
• In order to design the tank walls, it is necessary to correctly estimate the distribution and max design values
of (1) vertical moments and corresponding base shear and (2) horizontal moments and associated shear
forces and the direct horizontal inplane tensile forces, in each wall.