STRUCTURAL DESIGN OF OVERHEAD SPHERICAL WATER TANK USING ARSAP

Reinforced concrete tanks are often used to store and supply safe drinking water. Due to lack of water around the world, importance is given more on water storage projects. This research tries to address the problem of lack of adequate water supply in a university community. The expansion of academic and residential activities with aging infrastructure has led to the intermitted water supply shortages, low pressures and unsatisfactory water quality in some areas of the campus. The research is aimed at the structural design of overhead spherical tank using Autodesk Robot Structural Analysis Professional 2019 (ARSAP) software and comparing the results obtained with manual design. The tank capacity was based on the projected water demand. Population growth was taken as 2.5% per annum, and estimated using the geometric increment method for a design period of 50years. Concrete grade C35A and steel bars of Fy-415 N/mm² was used as per BS 8007. Loadings were based on the self-weight, weight of water and wind speed effect. The findings between manual and software design were compared. Reinforcement area calculations for beams and columns were found to be much lower than the manual design. Hence, ARSAP was found to best design finite elements structures. The software is user-friendly and can model a structure of any shape and size for steel, concrete and timber. The research can serve a valuable reference for similar institutions and communities facing water supply challenges in Nigeria. Further research can be done to better the understanding of finite elements using ARSAP.