Continuously Supported Cylindrical-Conical Tanks

The bending effects in the shell arise from two primary sources: (1) the radial forces applied through the ring stiffeners; and (2) the geometrical discontinuity at the cylindrical-conical shell junction. These bending effects are largely uncoupled and exhibit some interdependence only when the lower ring stiffener is very close to the cylindrical-conical junction. When the lower ring stiffener is located close to the junction, there appears to be a beneficial coupling of the two sources of bending with reduced values of the hoop stress and junction bending moment. The bending moment at the vicinity of the lower ring stiffener is increased slightly, with the increase being less for larger values of the ring cross-sectional area. The effect of the bending rigidity of the vertical stiffeners, as reflected by the equivalent ring thickness, was minimal; thus, the primary benefit derived from such stiffeners is their action, in conjunction with the ring stiffeners, to form a circular ring girder capable of distributing the column reactions uniformly around the circumference.