CURSURILE 6, 7, 8,

Măsurarea şi analiza tasărilor

 CURSUL 6
Tasările
definire, cazuri, metode
Geodetic Monitoring of the Deformation
of a 50,000 t Sugar Storage Tank
Founded on 124 Long Bored Piles

P. Savvaidis and  I. Ifadis

Laboratory of Geodesy
Dept. of Civil Engineering
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Greece
Monitoring of the behavior of large technical structures

Monitoring of the behavior Deformations that occur

of large technical structures may cause severe damages
has been a reality for the to structures or even loss of
last few decades. life and injury to people.

These deformations may be attributed to several reasons:

 incomplete investigation of foundation soil properties
 improper construction of the foundation system
 insufficient knowledge of the operating conditions
 earthquakes etc.

The continuous monitoring of the behavior of a structure can detect

deformations and displacements authenticating study and construction
theories and proving the safety of the operation of the technical work.
The 50,000 t Sugar Storage Tank - 1

A heavy storage tank for storing

50,000 t of sugar founded on a
large group of bored piles.

The tank is located in the

installations of the Hellenic Sugar
Industry S.A. at Plati, about 50
Km from the City of Thessaloniki.

It is the largest structure of this

category in Europe and its
construction was completed in
1995 with a cost of more than
2,500,000 USD.
The 50,000 t Sugar Storage Tank - 2

The complex consists of a

cylindrical shell of a 350 mm
thick circular, prestressed
concrete wall. The concrete
shell has 46 m external
diameter, it is 33.36 m high
and it is covered by a wooden
roof.
The superstructure is founded
on a 1200 mm thick circular
concrete raft, 2.50 m above
the ground surface, which is
supported by 124 bored piles.
The dead weight of the whole
structure is approximately
12,000 t.
 Foundations consideration and design - 1

Storage tanks are relatively flexible structures and they can tolerate greater
settlements than other engineering structures. However, there is a limit to
the settlements expected to take without distress.

The most important undesirable effects of settlements to avoid

in designing tank foundations are:

Overall settlement of the tank.

Differential settlement across the diameter, which may
overstress internal piping connections.
Differential settlement along the periphery, which may
overstress the superstructure.
Differential settlement between the tank and the external
connection pipework.
 
 Foundations consideration and design - 2

Finally, the rotary, cast in place, large bored piles with bentonite slurry
were selected as the most efficient pile type.

 A group of 124 piles

was designed and
constructed.
 Each pile has a
diameter of 1.20 m and
it is 37.17 m long.

The theoretical mean total

settlement of the group of
piles was evaluated equal
to 12 cm.
 A survey of similar structures

A heavy storage tank capable of

storing 15,000 t of liquid ammonia
located at the industrial area of the
city of Thessaloniki near the
seaside. It is founded on a circular
concrete raft, which is supported
by 112 bored piles.
Deformation measurements for
vertical displacements.
1985-today

A heavy storage tank capable of storing 40,000 t of sugar at

Forlipopoli, Italy. The circular concrete raft is founded on 396 piles.
Deformation measurements for both horizontal and vertical
displacements.
1994-1996
Measurement of deformation - 1
 Measurement of deformation - 2
Loading history

60000
Sugar Load [tons]

50000
40000
30000 Measurement
20000 epochs:
6
10000
0
0 100 200 300 400 500
Days from start

The deformations of the tank were observed after the completion of its
construction during the first loading with sugar. The tank was gradually
filled with 10,000 t of sugar. Then the sugar was removed, the tank
remained empty for about five months and, finally, it was again filled
with sugar to the maximum load of 50,000 t.
 Measurement of horizontal deformation - 1

In order to monitor the

horizontal deformation, of the
cylindrical shell concrete wall:

Two lines of control points,

each of 12 cone-shaped
targets, were installed on the
wall of the tank from bottom to
top, at the diameter NW-SE,
the lower 6 at distance of 3 m
from each other and the rest at
distance of 6 m.
Measurement of horizontal deformation - 2

 A control network
consisting of a number
of reference points
(pillars) was established
around the tank.
 The network was
remeasured with GPS
receivers at each epoch.
 The coordinates of the
targets on the wall were
computed due to the
measurement of
intersections from the
points of the control
network.
Measurement of horizontal deformation - 3

 A free network adjustment of the

complete network (both reference and
control points included) was done for
each epoch.
 A similarity transformation was used
to obtain a common reference system
between the coordinates of the points
of the specific epoch and the
coordinates of the points of the zero
measurement.
 The horizontal displacement of each
control point was computed as the
difference between the zero
measurement coordinates and the
corresponding transformed last epoch
coordinates.
Measurement of vertical deformation - 1

In order to monitor the vertical

deformation,16 benchmarks were
installed on the upper free part of
certain piles.

The benchmarks can be divided

into three groups:
 P1, P2, P3, and P4 located on
the central piles
 P5, P6, P7, P8, P9, and P10
located on piles at an
intermediate periphery
 P11, P12, P13, P14, P15, and
P16 located on piles at the
external periphery of the slab.
Measurement of vertical deformation - 2

High precision geodetic

levelling
 Measurement of vertical deformation - 3
Vertical movements of piles during the first loading of the tank with
sugar

800
820
780
Elevation [mm]

P1 800

Elevation [mm]
760 P11
P2
780
740 P12
760
720 P3 740 P13
700
P4 720
680 700 P14
660 P15
680
0 37 93 190 353 408
0 37 93 190 353 408 P16
Days from start
Days from start

P1, P2, P3, and P4 P11, P12, P13, P14, P15 and P16
850
Elevation [mm]

800 P5

750
P6
P7
 The vertical displacements
700 P8 of pile benchmarks generally
650 P9
follow the loading and
0 37 93 190 353 408 P10
Days from start unloading of the tank

P5, P6, P7, P8, P9 and P10

 Measurement of vertical deformation - 4

 The maximum
settlements of the slab
occurred at central
piles P1, P2, P3, and
P4 with a mean value
of approximately 63.5
mm.
 The settlements
observed were smaller
with increasing
distance from the
center of the circular
slab.

Slab deformation under maximum load during the first loading of the tank
with sugar (curved lines are lines of equal vertical displacement, in mm)
 Conclusions – 1
Comparison to the behaviour of similar structures

The model of vertical deformation of the sugar tank at Plati was very
similar to the behavior observed in the other two tank structures
mentioned above (the ammonia storage tank in Thessaloniki and the
sugar storage tank in Forlipopoli).

Thessaloniki
Plati
 Conclusions – 2

During the first loading of the tank with 10,000 t of sugar, the mean
value of the observed settlement was equal to the 25% of the predicted
mean final settlement.
After sugar removal the mean remaining settlement was 9% of the
final predicted value.
The differential settlements between the center of the foundation slab
and the peripheral points were fractions of the overall slab settlement,
quite close to the ratio estimated in the computations.
During the loading test with the maximum load of 50,000 t, the mean
observed settlement seems to be approximately the 50% of the expected
final settlements.
The observed horizontal displacements of the tank wall were
insignificant, proving the effectiveness of the design and construction
method used.
ATATÜRK DAM
 Urmărirea comportării în timp a fostului sediu
al E.M.Iara prin nivelment geometric de mijloc
• Clădirea se găseşte în apropierea centrului conului de surpare la
aproximativ 100 de metrii de acesta fiind în conservare, având în
vedere poziţia zonei, departe de punctele de interes comercial sau
industrial din prezent.
• Clădirea a fost urmărită, prin stabilirea evoluţiei tasărilor, utilizând
metoda nivelmentului geometric de mijloc de precizie cu un nivel
prevăzut cu micrometru optic şi miră de invar.
• S-au făcut patru cicluri menţionate în următoarele materiale
anexate:
• Schiţa vizelor, poziţia reperilor ficşi şi mobili( fig. 7.11)
• Tabel conţinând cotele celor zece mărci de tasare, pentru trei cicluri
de măsurare+ciclul origine şi tasările constatate,
• Diagramele tasărilor( fig.7.12)
• Detalii privind construcţia monitorizată( fig.7.13)
Schiţa vizelor, poziţia reperilor
ficşi şi mobili