A. R. Pourkeramat - M.Sc. Student, School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Tehran, Iran
A. R. Daneshmehr - Associate Professor School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Tehran, Iran
K Aminfar - M.Sc. Student School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Tehran, Iran
S Jalili - Assistant Professor Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Sahand University of Technology, Tabriz, East Azerbaijan, Iran

Water storage tanks are an indispensable part of firefighting equipment that must be properly designed and manufactured so that they can function properly in forests, factories, and residential complexes. Water containers are highly susceptible to buckling due to their low thickness-to-diameter ratio. Hence, in the case of an adjacent fire, heat can lead to buckling and eventually destroy the reservoir. In this study, the buckling behavior of water storage tanks in the vicinity of pool fire has been investigated. Geometrically and Materially Non-linear Analysis (GMNA) has been used in this research by applying the Arc-length method in Abaqus. The water level in the tank strongly influenced the critical buckling temperature as well as the buckling mode shapes of the structure. Therefore, to prevent the early destruction of the storage tanks, two kinds of horizontal and vertical stiffeners have been applied. Also, experimental data from previous research have been used to validate the numerical analysis. The results showed that significant temperature variations occur at the fluid surface resulting in buckling above the liquid level. Accordingly, the critical buckling temperature of the semi-full tank was 3.5 times larger than the empty tank. Furthermore, horizontal stiffeners were observed to be more effective than vertical ones because of the shape of the buckling modes of each case.

Thermal buckling, Pool fire, Water storage tank, Stiffeners, GMNA, Arc-length method.