Proceedings

of PVP2009
Proceedings of the ASME 2009 Pressure Vessels and Piping
Division Conference
2009 ASME Pressure Vessels and Piping Division Conference
PVP2009
July26-30,
26-30,2009,
2009,Prague,
Prague,Czech
CzechRepublic
Republic
July

PVP2009-77187
SLOSHING CHARACTERISTICS OF SINGLE DECK FLOATING ROOFS
IN ABOVEGROUND STORAGE TANKS
- NATURAL PERIODS AND VIBRATION MODES -

Shoichi Yoshida
Yokohama National University
Yokohama, Japan

Kazuyoshi Sekine
Yokohama National University
Yokohama, Japan

ABSTRACT
The floating roofs are widely used to prevent evaporation
of content in large oil storage tanks. The 2003 Tokachi-Oki
earthquake caused severe damage to the floating roofs due to
liquid sloshing. The structural integrity of the floating roofs
for the sloshing is urgent issue to establish in the petrochemical
and oil refining industries. This paper presents the sloshing
characteristics of the single deck floating roofs in cylindrical
storage tanks. The hydrodynamic coupling of fluid and
floating roof is taken into consideration in the axisymmetric
finite element analysis. It is assumed that the fluid is
incompressible and inviscid, and the floating roof is linear
elastic while the sidewall and the bottom are rigid. The basic
vibration characteristics, natural periods and vibration modes,
of the floating roof due to the sloshing are investigated.
These will give engineers important information on the floating
roof design.
INTRODUCTION
The floating roof is a steel cover that floats on the liquid
surface for the prevention of evaporation in aboveground
storage tanks. It is widely used in large-sized tanks to store
mainly crude oil and naphtha. One floating roof type is a
single-deck which is a deck with an annular pontoon that
provides buoyancy. Seven single deck floating roofs had
experienced sinking failures in the 2003 Tokachi-Oki
earthquake at a refinery in Tomakomai, Japan. These floating
roofs deformed to leak oil on them due to the liquid sloshing,
and they lost buoyancy to sink. A devastating full surface fire
broke out in one of the damaged tanks due to unclear ignition
of flammable vapors after sinking the floating roof into the

Katsuki Iwata
Japan Oil, Gas and Metals
National Corporation
Kawasaki, Japan

content. The fire was extinguished 44 hours later. This

accident became a cause to establish the seismic design method
of floating roofs which had not been carried out by that time.
The behavior of floating roofs in sloshing becomes an urgent
issue to solve.
The linear solution based on the velocity potential theory
assuming imcompressive and inviscid fluid was established in
the 1970s regarding the sloshing response of free fluid surface in
cylindrical storage tanks [1]. The linear solution for the
sloshing response of the floating roof as a rigid circular plate was
also established after that [2]. With regard to the sloshing
response of the floating roof as an elastic circular plate, the
hydrodynamic coupling of fluid and floating roof has to be taken
into consideration, and Sakai introduced the solution using the
Ritz method first[3]. Matsui proposed the analytical solutions
for the sloshing of the floating roof as an elastic circular plate
with and without a ring attached to the perimeter of the plate
[4,5]. The studies of the experiment[6], the design criteria[7]
and the nonlinear vibration[8] for the sloshing response of the
floating roofs were also reported.
Several three dimensional nonlinear finite element analyses
using the general purpose computer code were performed for the
simulation of the sloshing behavior of the floating roofs which
had damaged at the 2003 Tokachi-Oki earthquake. These
analyses were taken the hydrodynamic coupling of fluid and
floating roof into consideration, and were nonlinear. However,
the theoretical backgrounds of the fluid motion were not
described in these reports.
The basic vibration characteristics of the floating roof for
the sloshing, such as natural periods and vibration modes, can be
obtained from the linear analysis. These will give engineers
important information on the design. Although Sakai[3] and

Copyright 2009 by ASME

Matsui[4] have already reported the linear analysis of the

sloshing response of the circular plate floating roof, the detailed
researches on the basic sloshing characteristics of the single
deck floating roofs have not been seen.
The authors developed the theory for the axisymmetric
finite element analysis in the linear sloshing response of the
floating roofs in the cylindrical storage tanks, and a numerical
example was analyzed[9]. More precise modeling of the
floating roofs, such as a box shaped pontoon, could be possible
using the axisymmetric shell elements in the analysis. In this
paper, the free vibration analyses based on this theory in the
sloshing of the single deck floating roofs are carried out. The
basic sloshing characteristics are presented in comparison with
that of a free fluid surface and an elastic circular plate floating
roof.

Tmi
T0-mi
Tp-mi
us
uw
uz
u
{ue-m}
V
Wf

[]
{}
[m]
L
(,)

NOMENCRATURE
{dm} Overall nodal displacement vector
in global coordinate for m
{de-m} Nodal displacement vector in global coordinate for m
{e}
Exciting vector
{E} Overall exciting vector
{fe--m} Equivalent load vector for m
g
Acceleration of gravity
H
Fluid height
Functional
IL
[ka] Added stiffness matrix
[kL-m] Stiffness matrix of fluid element for m
[ks-m] Stiffness matrix of shell element for m
[Ka] Overall added stiffness matrix
[KL-m] Overall stiffness matrix of fluid element for m
[Ks-m] Overall stiffness matrix of shell element for m
m
Circumferential wave number
[ms] Mass matrix of shell element
[Ma-m] Overall added mass matrix for m
[Ms] Overall mass matrix of shell element
[NL] Shape function matrix of fluid element
[Ns] Shape function matrix of shell element
[Ns0] Shape function matrix of shell element
in global coordinate
p
Dynamic pressure of fluid
Dynamic pressure on floating roof surface
pf
Dynamic pressure at z=H
pH
{pm} Overall nodal dynamic pressure vector for m
{pe-m} Nodal dynamic pressure vector for m
(r,,z) Cylindrical coordinate
R
Tank radius
s
Shell element coordinate
[s]
Coupling matrix
Floating roof boundary
S1
Sidewall boundary
S2
Bottom boundary
S3
[S]
Overall coupling matrix
T
Kinematic energy of fluid motion

i-th natural period of single deck floating roof tank

i-th natural period of free fluid surface tank
i-th natural period of elastic plate floating roof tank
Tangential displacement of shell element
Normal displacement of shell element
Vertical displacement
Circumferential displacement of shell element
Nodal displacement vector in local coordinate for m
Fluid domain
External work done by floating roof
Rotational angle of shell element
Coordinate transformation matrix
Displacement vector within shell element
Circumferential distribution matrix for m
Fluid density
Elemental coordinate of fluid element
Velocity potential

Subscript e
m

Elemental equation
Circumferential wane number

BASIC EQUATIONS
Analytical Model and Finite Element
The fluid coupled floating roof tank system under
consideration is shown in Fig.1. In this figure, V is the fluid
domain, S1 is the floating roof boundary, S2 is the sidewall
boundary, S3 is the bottom boundaryR is the tank radius and H
is the fluid height. It is assumed that the fluid is imcompressive
and inviscid, the floating roof is linear elastic and the sidewall
and the bottom are rigid.
A cylindrical coordinate system (r,,z) is used with the
center of the bottom being the origin. In the axisymmetric
analysis, displacements, stresses and dynamic pressures can be
represented by Fourier series expansion of circumferential
coordinates, and then the equations are uncoupled between the
terms of Fourier series m, that is the circumferential wave
number, because of the orthogonality of trigonometric functions.
It is known in the linear analysis that the lateral loading excites
the tank behavior expressed by only the term m=1, and the
vertical loading excites only the term m=0. Because of both the
nonlinearity of the fluid motion and the non axisymmetry of the
cylindrical tanks, however, the tank behavior expressed by the
term m=0 or m 2 may occur[11].
Pontoon

Deck

S1
2R
H

S2

V
S3

Fig.1 Analytical model of floating roof tank

2

Copyright 2009 by ASME

The finite element method applied to the hydrodynamic

coupling of fluid and solid can be categorized into the Eulerian
formulation and the Lagrangian formulation[10]. In the
Eulerian approach, the behavior of the fluid is expressed in
terms of a velocity potential or a dynamic pressure as the nodal
variable. In the Lagrangian approach, the behavior of the
fluid is expressed in terms of displacements, and it is easy to
implement into an existing structural analysis code. However,
this approach has a serious problem that the fluid element has
zero energy deformation modes due to the zero shear modulus.
Since the objective is to obtain the basic sloshing
characteristics of floating roofs, the Eulerian formulation is
applied in this paper.
The theory of the axisymmetric FEA was developed for
the circumferential wave number m=1 in the previous paper
[9]. It is extended to m 2 in order to explain the sloshing
characteristics in this paper. The fluid is modeled using 4nodes axisymmetric quadrilateral elements as shown in Fig.2.
Using the nodal dynamic pressure vector {pe-m}, the dynamic
pressure p within the fluid element is defined by Eq.(1);
p=

cos m [N ]{p }

{ui } = [ m ]{ui m }

Using the nodal displacement vector {ue-m}, the displacement

vector {} within the shell element is defined by Eq.(4);

{ } = [e m ][N s ]{ue m }

where [Ns] is the shape function matrix of shell element. {ue-m}

and [e-m] are defined by the following equations.
{u }
{ue m } = { i m }

(5)

u j m
[ ] 0
[e m ] = m

0 [ m ]

(6)

z
j
L

m =1

=-1
2b
i
r0

us

=duw/ds

uw
s
i o

2a

=1

Fig.3 Axisymmric shell element

Equation of Fluid Motion
The fluid velocity of i-th direction vi can be calculated using
the velocity potentialas follows;

o
-1

vi =
r

Fig.2 Axisymmric fluid element

The floating roof is modeled using the axisymmetric shell
elements as shown in Fig.3. In this element, the tangential
displacement us and the circumferential displacement u are
assumed to be linear, and the normal displacement uw to be
cubic with regard to s, where s is the elemental meridional
coordinate.
The strain-displacement relation based on
Kirchhoff-Love's assumption is given by the Novozhilov's
equation [12]. The displacements at the nodal point i are
defined by Eq.(2);
0
0
0 usim
usi
cosm

0
sinm
0
0 u im
u i
=

0
cosm
0 uwim
uwi m=1 0

i
0
0
cosm im
0

(4)

m =1

where [NL] is the shape function matrix of the fluid element,

and the subscript e expresses the elemental equation and m
expresses the circumferential wave number.
z

(3)

m =1

(1)

em

where is the rotational angle, and the subscript i expresses the

nodal point. Eq.(2) can be simply written as follows.

(2)

xi

(7)

where xi is the i-th coordinate. The dynamic pressure p is given

from the velocity potential using the Bernoulli's equation;
p = L&
(8)
where L is the fluid density. The governing equation and the
boundary conditions expressed by the dynamic pressure p is
given as follows;
2 p 1 p 1 2 p 2 p
(9)
= 0 (in V)
+
+
+
2 p =
r 2 r r
p
= Lu&&z
z
p
=0
r
p
=0
z

r 2 2

z 2

(on S1)

(10)

(on S2)

(11)

(on S3)

(12)

where uz is the vertical displacement of the floating roof. Eq.(9)

is the equation of continuity written as the Laplace's equation.
Eq.(10)~Eq.(12) are the boundary conditions which are obtained
from the coincidence of fluid velocity with structural velocity in
the normal direction on the boundary.

Copyright 2009 by ASME

The dynamic pressure on the floating roof surface pf is

defined by the following form;
p f = pH L gu z
(13)
where pH is the dynamic pressure on z=H where is the liquid
surface before deformation, g is the acceleration of gravity.
The associate functional can be written as;

The overall equation of fluid motion is obtained by the

superposition of Eq.(17) for each element as follows.
[K L m ]{pm } + [S ] d&&m = 0
(22)
The matrices described with the capital letter mean the overall
equations.

{ }

t2

IL =

(T W )dt

(14)

t1

where T is the kinematic energy, Wf is the external work done

by the floating roof. These terms are expressed in the
following forms.
T=

1
2

p 2 1 p 2 p 2
+ dV
+
r r z

W f = L

pu&&z rddr

(15)
(16)

S1

The variation IL=0 leads to the governing Eq.(9) and the

boundary conditions Eq.(10) ~Eq.(12).
Substituting Eq.(1) and Eq.(4) into Eq.(15) and Eq.(16)
and because of the orthogonality of trigonometric functions, the
stationarity of the functional gives the elemental equation of
fluid motion with uncoupling form between the circumferential
wave numbers m as follows:
[kL m ]{pe m } + [s ] d&&e m = 0
(17)
where {de-m} is the nodal displacement vector of the shell
element in the global coordinate, and is transformed into the
elemental coordinate by a coordinate transformation matrix []
as follows:
{ue m } = [ ]{de m }
(18)
In Eq.(17), [kL-m] is the stiffness matrix of the fluid element,
and [s] is the coupling matrix. These are expressed by the
following forms.

{ }

T
T
2

[kLm ] = NL NL + m2 [N L ]T [N L ] + N L N L rdrdz (19)

r r r
z z
V

[s ] = L [N L ( = 1)]T [N so (u z )]rdr

(20)

S1

Although [kL-m] has no physical meaning as stiffness, it is called

"stiffness matrix", since [kL-m] is multiplied by nodal vector
{pe-m} in Eq.(17).
[NL(=1)] is the shape function matrix in the global
coordinate, and is given by substituting =1 into [NL] expressed
in terms of the elemental coordinate(,) as shown in Fig.2.
[Ns0] is the shape function matrix of the shell element in the
global coordinate. [Ns0(uz)] is the matrix which takes only the
term of uz from [Ns0]. [NL(=1)] is the same as [NL(=1)]
except for the substitution =1 into [NL]. The relation
between [Ns] and [Ns0] is given by
[N so ] = [ ]T [N s ][ ]
(21)

Equation of Motion of Coupling System

The elemental equation of the floating roof motion can be
written for each circumferential wave number m as follows;
[ms ] d&&e m + [ks m ]{de m } = { fe m }
(23)
where [ms], [ks-m] are the mass matrix and the stiffness matrix.
The equivalent load vector {fe-m} is written as follows.
{ f e m } = [N so ]T p f rdr
(24)

{ }

S1

Substituting Eq.(13) into Eq.(24), the following equation is

obtained;
1

[s]T {pe m } [ka ]{d e m }

(25)
L
where [ka] is the added stiffness matrix expressed by the
following equation.
{ fem } =

[ka ] = L g [N so ]T [N so (u z )]rdr

(26)

S1

The overall equation of floating roof motion is obtained by

the superposition of Eq.(23) for each shell element as follows.

[M s ]{d&&m }+ ([K s m ] + [K a ]){d m } =

[S ]T {pm }
(27)
L
The dynamic pressure vector {pm} is derived from Eq.(22) as
follows.
{pm } = [K L m ]1 [S ] d&&m
(28)

{ }

Substituting this equation into Eq.(27), the equation of motion of

the hydrodynamic coupling system is given by;
([M s ] + [M a m ]) d&&m + ([K s m ] + [K a ]){d m } = 0
(29)
where [Ma-m] is the added mass matrix of the fluid and is
expressed by the following form.

{ }

[M a m ] =

[S ]T [K L m ]1 [S ]
(30)
L
Eq.(29) is the eigenvalue problem, and both the mass term and
the stiffness term are symmetric matrices.
SINGLE DECK FLOATING ROOF
The single deck floating roof consists of the deck plate and
the pontoon of box shaped cross section as shown in Fig.4. The
pontoon consists of the inner rim, the outer rim, the upper
pontoon plate and the lower pontoon plate. Each member is
joined using welding. The pontoon is divided into a number of
compartments by the radial plates called "bulkhead". Each
compartment has liquid tight requirement. The bulkhead plates
are not able to taken into consideration in this analytical model
because of the axisymmetric analysis.

Copyright 2009 by ASME

API Standard 650 Appendix C gives the minimum

requirements for the floating roof design [13], and the
minimum thickness of the deck plate is 4.76 mm(0.1875 inch).
It is 4.5 mm in the floating roof regulated by Fire Service Law
Japan. The thickness of deck plate is generally adopted the
minimum value regardless of the floating roof diameter.
The sloshing characteristics of three single deck floating
roofs which are named as SD20, SD30 and SD40 are
investigated. The detail data is shown in Table 1. The roof
radius of SD20, SD30 and SD40 are 20 m, 30 m and 40 m,
respectively. Also their capacities are approximately 20,000
m3, 50,000 m3 and 100,000 m3, respectively. Fig.5 shows the
mesh division of SD30, and that of the other tanks are the same
as SD30. All displacement components except for the
rotational angle are restrained to zero at the nodal point of the
deck center which is shown at point A in Fig.4.

Deck

Pontoon
C

cr

A
ar
AB : Deck
BC : Inner rim
DE: Outer rim

br

E
dr
D

BD : Lower pontoon
CE : Upper pontoon

Fig.4 Analytical model of single deck floating roof

Table 1 Numerical examples of single deck floating roof
Floating roof No.
SD20
Inner rim radius a r (mm)
17000
Pontoon width b r (mm)
3000
Inner rim height c r (mm)
450
Outer rim height d r (mm)
800
Deck thickness (mm)
4.5
Inner rim thickness (mm)
10
Outer rim thicness (mm)
10
Lower pontoon thickness (mm)
4.5
Upper pontoon thickness (mm)
4.5
16000
Fluid height H (mm)
Young's modulus (GPa)
Poisson's ratio
3
Roof plate density (kg/m )
3
Fluid density (kg/m )
Deck mesh division
Pontoon mesh division
Fluid height mesh division
Inner rim mesh division
Outer rim mesh divison

SD30
26000
4000
450
800
4.5
12
12
6
6
18000
200
0.3
8000
850
70
20
30
4
6

SD40
35000
5000
450
800
4.5
12
12
6
6
20000

Fig.5 Mesh division of SD30

SLOSHING CHARACTERISTICS
The FEA computer code based on the theory described in
the previous chapter has been developed by the authors. The
free vibration analyses of the floating roofs in Table 1 are carried
out, and the basic sloshing characteristics are obtained.
Natural Period
The natural periods for the sloshing of the single deck
floating roof of SD20, SD30 and SD40 are shown in Fig.6. In
this figure, Tmi is the natural periods of the single deck floating
roof in the circumferential wave number m and the order i. Tmi
decreases with increasing m if the order i is identical, and is long
in order of SD40, SD30 and SD20 if i and m are identical.
The natural period for the sloshing of the free fluid surface
T0-mi is given by the following equation [1];
2

T0 mi =

mi

g
H

tanh mi
R
R

(31)

where mi is the i-th positive root of the following differential

equation.
dJ m ( r )
=0
dr

(32)

Jm(r) is the Bessel function of the first kind of order m.

The natural period ratios Tmi/T0-mi of the floating roofs are
shown in Fig.7. In the circumferential wave number m=1, the
ratio T1i/T0-1i in the order i=1~3 exceeds 1.0 slightly, and that is
less than 1.0 in the order i 4. Therefore, the natural period of
the floating roof T1i is almost identical with that of the free fluid
surface T0-1i in the low order of i, and T1i is less than T0-1i in the
high order of i. In the circumferential wave number m 2,
Tmi/T0-mi is less than 1.0 at i=1, and it increases to approach 1.0 at
i=2~4, then it decrease again with increasing i.

Copyright 2009 by ASME

1.1

SD20

10

m=1
m=3
m=5

m=2
m=4

1.0
0.9

Tmi /T0-mi

Natural Period

Tmi (s)

12

6
4

0.8
SD20

0.7

m=1
m=3
m=5

0.6

0.5

0.4

10

Order i

m=1
m=3
m=5

m=1
m=3
m=5

m=1
m=3
m=5

10

0.8
SD40

0.7

m=1
m=3
m=5

0.6

0.5

0
5

10

0.9

1.0

1.1

m=2
m=4

Tmi /T0-mi

Tmi (s)

SD40

(b) SD30

12
10

Order i

(b) SD30

m=2
m=4

0.4

10

Order i

SD30

0.7

0.5

0
5

10

0.8

0.6

0.9

1.0

1.1

m=2
m=4

Tmi/T0-mi

Tmi (s)
Natural Period

SD30

(a) SD20

12
10

Order i

(a) SD20

Natural Period

m=2
m=4

0.4

10

Order i

(c) SD40
Fig.6 Natural period of sloshing motion for single deck floating
roof tank
This paper defines the rigidity ratio as the deck plate
thickness divided by the floating roof radius. The deck plate
thickness is 4.5 mm regardless of the roof radius as shown in
Table 1. The rigidity ratio is large if the roof radius is small,
and is large in order of SD20, SD30 and SD40. The natural
period ratio Tmi/T0-mi is small in order of SD20, SD30 and
SD40. It is found that if the rigidity ratio increases, the
natural period Tmi decreases.

m=2
m=4

Order i

(c) SD40
Fig.7 Relation of natural periods between single deck floating
roof tank and free fluid surface tank
Fig.8 shows the natural period ratios Tmi/Tp-mi of SD30.
Tp-mi is the natural period for the sloshing of the elastic circular
plate floating roof which has the same radius (ar+br) and the
same material properties as the single deck floating roof SD30 in
Table 1 and its thickness is 4.5 mm. The mesh divisions along
both radial direction and vertical direction are 90 and 30 with
regular intervals, respectively.

Copyright 2009 by ASME

In the circumferential wave number m=1, the ratio T1i/Tp-1i

of order i=1,2 is almost 1.0, and it decreases with increasing the
order i. In the circumferential wave number m 2, Tmi/Tp-mi is
less than 1.0 and it decreases with increasing m. In all cases
except for i=1,2 of m=1, the natural period of the single deck
floating roof Tmi is less than that of the elastic circular plate
floating roof Tp-mi. The difference between the two floating
roofs is only the existence of the pontoon. The rigidity of the
single deck is higher than that of the elastic circular plate.
Consequently, Tmi is less than Tp-mi especially in the high m and
i.
Fig.9 shows the natural period ratios Tmi/T0-mi of SD30.
In each m, the ratio Tmi/T0-mi of order i=1~4 is almost 1.0, and it
decreases with increasing the order i. The natural period of
the elastic circular plate floating roof Tp-mi is less than that of
the free fluid surface T0-mi.

Fig.10. Also, the vibration mode of the elastic circular plate

floating roof corresponding to the natural period Tp-mi in SD30
are shown in Fig.11. These are the deformation at =0, and
they distribute cosm along the circumferential direction. The
vibration mode of the single deck is almost the same as that of
the elastic circular plate except for the pontoon portion.
The vibration mode corresponding to T53 which is the
natural period of the single deck of m=5 and i=3 is shown in
Fig.10(c). The vibration mode corresponding to Tp-53 which is
the natural period of the elastic circular plate of m=5 and i=3 is
shown in Fig.11(c).
In the mode of the single deck
corresponding to T53, it dose not deform at the joint of deck and
pontoon which is the point B in Fig.4, and it locally deforms in
the pontoon bottom plate which is the range between the point B
and the point D in Fig.4. This is different from the mode of the
elastic circular plate corresponding to Tp-53.

1.05
SD30

Tmi /Tp-mi

1.00
0.95
0.90
m=1
m=3
m=5

0.85

m=2
m=4

0.80
1

(a) m=1

10

Order i

Fig.8 Relation of natural periods between single deck floating

roof tank and circular plate floating roof tank in SD30

1.05
SD30

Tp-mi /T0-mi

1.00
0.95

(b) m=3

0.90
m=1
m=3
m=5

0.85

m=2
m=4

0.80
1

10

Order i

Fig.9 Relation of natural periods between circular plate floating

roof tank and free fluid surface tank in SD30
Vibration Mode
The vibration mode of the single deck floating roof
corresponding to the natural period Tmi in SD30 are shown in

(c) m=5
Fig.10 Vibration modes of single deck floating roof in SD30

Copyright 2009 by ASME

The vibration modes which locally deforms in the pontoon

occur in high m and i of SD20 and SD40, too. As a result, Tmi
is different from Tp-mi in this case. T53 is 2.7069 s and Tp-53 is
2.9490 s in SD30, and the Tmi/Tp-mi curve is not smooth at m=5
and i=3 in Fig.7(b).
The pontoon of the single deck floating roof is divided
into a number of compartments by the bulkhead. The
bulkhead plates are not taken into consideration in the model
because of the axisymmetric analysis. The vibration mode
which deforms locally in the pontoon is presumed not to appear
due to the bulkhead actually. This is a future subject.

the axisymmetric finite element method.

following conclusions are obtained.

As a result, the

(1)The natural period for sloshing of the single deck floating roof
Tmi is almost the same as that of the free fluid surface T0-mi in the
circumferential wave number m=1 and low order i.
Tmi is less
than T0-mi in all m and i except for m=1 and low order i. The
ratio Tmi /T0-mi decreases with increasing m.
(2)Tmi is almost the same as that of the elastic circular plateTp-mi
in both m=1 and low order i=1,2. Tmi is less than Tp-mi in all m
and i except for m=1 and low order i=1,2. The ratio Tmi /Tp-mi
decreases with increasing m.
(3)The vibration modes which locally deforms in the pontoon
occur in high m and i.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This research was sponsored by Japan Oil, Gas and Metals
National Corporation(JOGMEC).
Its financial support is
gratefully acknowledged.

(a) m=1
REFERENCES

(b) m=3

(c) m=5
Fig.11 Vibration modes of circular plate floating roof in SD30
CONCLUSIONS
The sloshing characteristics of the single deck floating
roofs in the aboveground storage tank are investigated using

(1)Ibrahim, R.A., Liquid Sloshing Dynamics, Cambridge University

Press (2005), pp.12-16.
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