Economic, temporary and fast-erected water storage tanks are needed in new developing societies, construction sites, industrial and agricultural projects. Brickwork circular tanks may represent the best solution for such cases. The available design procedures adopted for brickwork tanks are based on the principles of reinforced concrete tanks. This is not entirely satisfactory since the assumptions, which govern the theory of reinforced concrete water retaining structures, do not necessarily apply to reinforced brickwork water retaining structures. Therefore, the main motivation for conducting the research program described herein is to increase the knowledge about the behaviour of brickwork circular tanks, then, to develop guidelines for practical applications of these masonry tanks.
Two circular specimens of brickwork representing a segment of deep circular water tanks were constructed using the solid cement bricks available in the Egyptian market. The two specimens have 1000-mm internal diameter and 230-mm total height with three courses of brick units. The first specimen is 250-mm thick with a 16-mm reinforcing bar over each of the first and second courses, while the second specimen is 120-mm thick without reinforcement. The two specimens were tested under uniform internal pressure generated from a steel set-up with eight link arms by applying a vertical load from a hydraulic jack with 100 KN capacity. The cracking patterns and displacements produced by this loading were recorded and discussed. Furthermore, a nonlinear finite element computer program is especially developed by the authors and has been used in analysing the two tested specimens. The analytical results calculated using the present computer program compare well with the obtained experimental ones. Finally, the influence of the main parameters affecting the behaviour of the brickwork circular tanks has been investigated throughout a parametric study
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