WARose -
That's good to know. That actually stirs up a memory from back in my RISA days. I remember that some competitor did P-Delta for plates and I wondered how it was done. Very easy for linear elements. Whether you're doing secondary shears, or modifying the stiffness matrix, this is pretty simple.... for column elements. That's because your axial force is in a single direction and your shape functions are simple / predictable.
For plate elements, you've got a 2-way axial force problem in addition to a more complex shape function.
My thoughts on this (for STAAD):
1) I'd want to do some manual verification of this effect to demonstrate that it actually works properly. Simple stuff:
a) A comparison of a single rectangular column subject to varying axial and lateral forces versus a similarly loaded column that is built up from plate elements.
b) A similar problem with a HSS circular or rectangular tube.
2) Even if this works perfectly, I'm pretty certain it's still a perfectly Elastic analysis. This may not be appropriate for a tank. Though, as I think about it, the more "slender" the elements, the more likely an elastic analysis is to be correct.
3) I wonder if STAAD can do an eigenvalue buckling analysis? My guess is that it can. This may give you a better idea of the elastic buckling loads.... to which you would have to add some safety factors.
4) I still think the proper thing to do is likely to follow some industry standard that gives you hand calculation methods for developing an allowable stress. Granted, my thinking may be a bit dated.... based on a "pressure vessels" course I took in the late 1990's.