Steel water tower design
Steel water tower design
(OP)
Hello everyone,
I've recently been handed my first steel water tower project (basic rectangular tower) and as a novice to steel design it has me floored. I'm capable of designing portal frames by hand calculations as per my undergraduate knowledge so I was hoping to get some guidance if possible.
1. the tower supports a 1.5 m dia x 2.25 m height tank on a chequred plate deck and is to be 12 m high (other dimensions are to my discretion). Can I get away with treating the structure as a simple statics problem to justify key section sizes or is it a lot more involving?
2. Any place I can get good materials to hone my skills on steel structures, for BS5950 especially?
Thanks for your time!
I've recently been handed my first steel water tower project (basic rectangular tower) and as a novice to steel design it has me floored. I'm capable of designing portal frames by hand calculations as per my undergraduate knowledge so I was hoping to get some guidance if possible.
1. the tower supports a 1.5 m dia x 2.25 m height tank on a chequred plate deck and is to be 12 m high (other dimensions are to my discretion). Can I get away with treating the structure as a simple statics problem to justify key section sizes or is it a lot more involving?
2. Any place I can get good materials to hone my skills on steel structures, for BS5950 especially?
Thanks for your time!






RE: Steel water tower design
Dik
RE: Steel water tower design
RE: Steel water tower design
Generally, these standards require higher wind loading than in the building codes, and lower allowable stresses than normally used for steel structural design.
RE: Steel water tower design
https://phoenixtank.com/
RE: Steel water tower design
I'm in the US so not familiar with BS. As JStephen noted we design such to a couple of standards. In addition to what he noted, there are specific welding design considerations for steel ground storage and elevated tanks.
You have to design for loading in every orthogonal direction and consider corrosion protection in the process! Good luck and have fun!
RE: Steel water tower design