Dynamic Properties of Watertowers Assembled from Interlocked Panels under Different Loading Conditions

Abstract—Earthquakes produce some of the most violent loading situations that a structure can be subjected to and if a structure fails under these loads then inevitably human life is put at risk. One of the most common methods by which a structure fails under seismic loading is at the connection of structural elements. The research presented in this paper compares the performance of mathematical models of watertowers under seismic conditions. One type of model is assembled withconcrete panels that are connected by means of a novel interlocked mechanism. The performance of this modelwas tested against the performance of a conventional monolith watertower. Two variables were appliedsimultaneously when testing each model: earthquakes with different magnitudes and different mass of the elevated water tanks. The results of this experimental study demonstrated that across all tested seismic conditions, increasing the mass of the water tanks resulted in greater deformation of the watertowers. This was most pronounced for the monolith watertower model. With increasing mass of the water tanks across all seismic conditions, those watertowers composted of interlocked panels withstood increasing loading stresses more effectively than the monolith watertower