AbstractGlass reinforced polyester is used for the design of 5500 litre vehicle mounted tanks which carry a variety of liquids to farms. The main panels of the tanks are designed as flat or slightly domed membranes using a theory which depends on resistance to the membrane tension by ‘in plane’ shear within the panel. The vehicle dynamic loading can only be estimated and therefore the tanks have been developed from experience over some years. The primary problem in the design follows from the forced bending strain at the edges of the membrane panels, that is, the corners and joints of the tanks. Strain controlled testing of both the glass fibres and the GRP laminates is used to determine the acceptable limiting strain in the tanks for the operating conditions. The main panel design has not given any problems but care was essential to keep the local strain at comers and joints within the strain limit for the
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