Analysis of Settlement Characteristics of Storage Tank on the Soft Soil Base under Horizontal Earthquake Loads

The settlement characteristics of storage tank on the soft soil base under horizontal earthquake loads were analyzed based on numerical simulation. The analysis results show that the uneven settlement of storage tank foundation has been much serious in the initial stage of earthquake. The settlement is small at the center of storage tank bottom, and the settlement increases with the radial distance to storage tank center increasing, the maximum settlement appears at the place 0.85D away from the center of storage tank bottom, D is the radius of storage tank. The soil settlement mainly focused on the second layer of soil since the compression modulus of muddy silt at the second layer is big and soil layer is thick.