Non-linear response of the 115m Tupras refinery stack subjected to the 1999 Kocaeli earthquake
Akinci N.O. & Kilic S.A.
CICIND REPORT Vol. 18, No. 2, 2002
Order No: CR-229
The 17 August 1999 Kocaeli earthquake hit a heavily industrialized zone of Turkey. One of the notable damage to industrial facilities occurred when a 115m high reinforced concrete chimney (Stack 25F-5) collapsed onto the nearby heater and the pipe racks at the Tupras refinery situated in the Yarimca region. A preliminary investigation of the collapse of this stack was studied by Kilic et. al. [1]. An earlier evaluation of the collapse of the stack and the extent of damage caused by the earthquake was presented by Tunca [2].
This study deals with the characteristics of the ground motion in the earthquake affected area, soil condition at the site, structural properties of the collapsed stack, modal analysis results employing different approaches, and non-linear dynamic analysis of the stack subjected to the recorded ground motion at the nearby YPT station during the main shock of the earthquake.
The results indicate that collapse was more likely to occur in the first 20 seconds of the strong ground motions – representing an ‘impulse’ load. They also show that failure was most likely to occur around the large opening near the base of the chimney than at the base itself.