Strengthening of Large Storage

Tank Foundation Walls in an

Aggressive Environment by
External Post-tensioning
May7th2013:DominiqueDeschamps

Strengthening of Large Storage Tank

Foundation Walls by External PT

Scope of the paper

Presentation of the project

Cause of cracks
Selection of Repair Technique
Design of External PT
Field Installation

Strengthening of Large Storage Tank

Foundation Walls by External PT

Presentation of the project

Three new Storage Tanks were built in 2008-2009 in
order to increase the capacity of the plant and reduce
the unused time of tanks in the facility.
Tanks are built upon an outer reinforced concrete ring
wall supported by piles.
Tanks contain oil, heated 130F maximum.
Tanks are located at the Hudson River shore

Strengthening of Large Storage Tank

Foundation Walls by External PT
Presentation of the project Aerial View

3concerned
tanks

Strengthening of Large Storage Tank

Foundation Walls by External PT

Presentation of the Project View of one tank

Strengthening of Large Storage Tank

Foundation Walls by External PT

Presentation of the Project Detail of the

Reinforced Concrete Ring Wall
Ringwall:rectangularsection13
(381 mm)wideper42(1270mm)
deep
Outerdiameter: 1159(35.28m)
Innerdiameter:1133(34.52m)
CentralDiameter:1146(34.90m)
OuterLong.Rebars:8#3
InnerLong.Rebars:4#3
Stirrups:2#5@18centertocenter

Strengthening of Large Storage Tank

Foundation Walls by External PT

Damage: Multiple Cracks due to excessive

tension in the ring wall

Strengthening of Large Storage Tank

Foundation Walls by External PT

Cause of cracks
Ring Wall is subject to uniform tension due to earth

pressure.
Soil material used to fill the space inside the ring wall
underside the tank: 20 kN/m3 (125 pcf)
Resting pressure: K0 = 0.5
Oil in tank: 60 deep, density: 10 kN/m3 (62.4 pcf)
Self weight of tank: 5% of oil weight

Strengthening of Large Storage Tank

Foundation Walls by External PT

Cause of cracks
Total load above ground (oil + tank SW): 0.188 MPa
(27.3 psi).
Corresponding earth pressure: 0.0941 MPa (13.65 psi)
Pressure due to soil: 0.0125 MPa (1.81 psi)
Linear Pressure onto Ring Wall (1270 mm: 50 deep)

Pr = 127.50 kN/m (0.728 kips/in)

Strengthening of Large Storage Tank

Foundation Walls by External PT

Cause of cracks
Tensile Axial Force in Ring Wall: Serviceability
Fr = Pr R = 2234 kN (502 kips)

Tensile Axial Force in Ring Wall: Nominal Strength

Fru = 1.2 Fr = 2680 kN (602 kips)

Required Longitudinal Rebars:

As = Fru/(0.9*fy) = 11.15 in2 (72 cm2)

Reminder: 12 bars #3 in place: 1.32 in2 (8.52 cm2)

Strengthening of Large Storage Tank

Foundation Walls by External PT

Selection of Repair Technique

Deficiency is essentially due to insufficient tensile
reinforcement
Reinforced concrete repair not adequate for durability
for structures exposed to waste or contaminated water
CFRP technique not adequate since they require
tension to work and tension means cracks and water
going under the tanks

Strengthening of Large Storage Tank

Foundation Walls by External PT

Selection of the Repair Technique

External Post-Tensioning
Eliminate all possible tensions thanks to compression
brought by external PT
Crack Injection
Patch Repair
Use of PT system with a guaranteed lifetime of 50
years

Strengthening of Large Storage Tank

Foundation Walls by External PT

Selection of Repair Technique

Use of Greased Sheathed Strands 0.6 (15.2 mm)
inside a HDPE duct and inner space filled with grout.
Use of anchors protected against corrosion with a
specific coating resisting 50 years of external
aggression
ProtectionLevelthree:eachsheathed
strandisgroutedintoaHPDEduct
ProtectionLevelfour:
eachstrandisplacedinto
aHDPEduct
ProtectionLevel
two:eachstrandis
individuallyplaced
intoasheath

ProtectionLevelone:
eachstrandis
individuallygreasedinto
asheath
Wiresubject
tocorrosion

Strengthening of Large Storage Tank

Foundation Walls by External PT

Design of External PT
Compressive Force brought by PT shall be greater
than Tensile Force brought by Earth Pressure
Losses of PT taken into account
Durability improved by taking envelope between
France and US for computing PT losses: France
governs (40% more losses)
Tendons stressed at 75% of G.U.T.S. value

Strengthening of Large Storage Tank

Foundation Walls by External PT

Design of External PT
16 tendons 1 strand 0.60 distributed over the depth of
the ring wall are required. Length of tendons is 115 m
(377 ft)
1 anchorage per tendon: anchorage 1X

Strengthening of Large Storage Tank

Foundation Walls by External PT

Design of External PT

Maximum Compression Force: 2,882 kN (648 kips)

Maximum compressive stress: 5 MPa (720 psi)
Minimum Compression Force: 2,282 kN (513 kips)
Reminder: Tensile Axial Force in Ring Wall:
Serviceability

Fr = Pr R = 2234 kN (502 kips)

No more tensile stress in service

Strengthening of Large Storage Tank

Foundation Walls by External PT

Field Installation Preliminary work

Crack Injection: all cracks greater than 0.5 mm (0.02)
were injected
All unsound concrete was removed and redone with
high strength no-shrinkage mortar
Ground around the ring wall was removed and
stabilized (close to River): prevention of water leakage
from River

Strengthening of Large Storage Tank

Foundation Walls by External PT

Field Installation Placing of Tendons

Tendons pre-prepared at length
Supports uniformly distributed along ring wall for
maintaining tendons in place before stressing

Strengthening of Large Storage Tank

Foundation Walls by External PT

Field Installation Grouting of Tendons

Done before stressing

Strengthening of Large Storage Tank

Foundation Walls by External PT

End of Work

Strengthening of Large Storage Tank

Foundation Walls by External PT

Conclusion
Three Large Storage Tanks repaired in less than 3
weeks, mobilization included.
Efficient and low-cost repair technique
Sustainable and durable technologies

Strengthening of Large Storage Tank

Foundation Walls by External PT

Thank you for your attention!

Questions?