Tank Wall Connection

Abstract

A tank wall connection includes a base having a base recess and a wall having an end positioned in the base recess. A grout is filled in the base recess around the end of the wall. A caulk is disposed at a wall joint between the wall and the grout. An epoxy layer is disposed over the caulk and the grout at the wall joint.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a tank wall connection and, more particularly, to a connection between a wall and a base of a retaining tank.

BACKGROUND

Concrete walls are commonly used to form retention structures, such as a tank used for retaining wastewater. To form the retention structure, the walls are positioned in a concrete base and attached to the base. An epoxy is often used to prevent moisture from entering a joint between the wall and the base and is applied vertically on a side of the wall, over the joint, and horizontally on the base adjacent to the wall.

When the retention structure is loaded by a retained material, however, the walls deflect, causing cracks in the epoxy. The cracks permit moisture to enter the joint between the wall and the base, decreasing the load capabilities and useful life of the retention structure.

SUMMARY

A tank wall connection includes a base having a base recess and a wall having an end positioned in the base recess. A grout is filled in the base recess around the end of the wall. A caulk is disposed at a wall joint between the wall and the grout. An epoxy layer is disposed over the caulk and the grout at the wall joint.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying figures, of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a retaining tank;

FIG. 2 is a sectional side view of a tank wall connection; and

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a process of connecting a wall and a base in a retaining tank.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafter in detail with reference to the attached drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure will convey the concept of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.

Throughout the drawings, only one of a plurality of identical elements may be labeled in a figure for clarity of the drawings, but the detailed description of the element herein applies equally to each of the identically appearing elements in the figure. Throughout the specification, directional descriptors are used such as “vertical direction” and “width direction”. These descriptors are merely for clarity of the description and for differentiation of the various directions. These directional descriptors do not imply or require any particular orientation of the disclosed elements.

A retaining tank 10 according to an exemplary embodiment is shown in FIG. 1. The retaining tank 10 includes a plurality of walls 100 disposed in a base 200. The walls 100 are each connected to the base 200 by a tank wall connection 20 shown in FIG. 2 and described in greater detail below. The retaining tank 10 defines a retention area 12 or a plurality of retention areas 12 between the walls 100 and the base 200. A material to be retained by the retaining tank 10, such as wastewater, is disposed in the retention areas 12.

The retaining tank 10 shown in FIG. 1 is merely an example illustrating a possible application of the tank wall connection 20 shown in FIG. 2 and described herein. In other embodiments, the tank wall connection 20 described in greater detail below could be used in a retaining tank 10 having another overall shape or structure and to retain any of a number of different materials commonly retained by retention tanks in the retention areas 12. In some embodiments, the tank wall connection 20 can be used to form a retaining structure that does not define enclosed retention areas 12, but rather has at least one open side, or is an alignment of walls 100 along a single direction. The tank wall connection 20 described in detail below can apply in any embodiment or application in which a wall 100 is connected to a base 200 as described with reference to FIG. 2 herein.

As shown in FIG. 2, the tank wall connection 20 includes a base 100 and a wall 200 connected to the base 100. The base 100 and the wall 200 are each formed separately of a concrete material. The concrete material of the base 100 and the wall 200 can be formed of any mixture of cement, water, and aggregate known to those with ordinary skill in the art and used in retention structure applications. The base 100 and the wall 200 may have any reinforcement structure within the concrete material that is commonly used in retention structure applications.

The base 100, as shown in FIG. 2, has a top surface 110 and a base recess 120 extending into the top surface 110 in a vertical direction V.

The wall 200, as shown in FIG. 2, has an approximately rectangular cross section with an end 210 and a pair of side surfaces 220 extending from the end 210 along the vertical direction V. The side surfaces 220 are positioned opposite one another in a width direction W perpendicular to the vertical direction V. In the shown embodiment, the side surfaces 220 each extend in the vertical direction V perpendicularly with respect to a surface of the wall 200 at the end 210. In other embodiments, at least one of the side surfaces 220 can extend at an angle with respect to the vertical direction V.

A process 700 of creating the tank wall connection 20 to connect the wall 200 and the base 100 will now be described in greater detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

In a step 710 shown in FIG. 3, the base 100 is provided with the base recess 120 as described above.

In a step 720 shown in FIG. 3, a shim 300 is positioned in the base recess 120. As shown in FIG. 2, the shim 300 is positioned on a bottom surface 122 of the base recess 120. In an embodiment, the shim 300 is formed of a plastic material. In other embodiments, the shim 300 may be formed of any type of material that is sufficiently durable for the application.

In a step 730 shown in FIG. 3, the end 210 of the wall 200 is positioned in the base recess 120. As shown in the embodiment of FIG. 2, the end 210 of the wall 200 is positioned on the shim 300, and the shim 300 is positioned between the end 210 of the wall 200 and the base 100.

A grout 400 is then filled in the base recess 120 in a step 740 shown in FIG. 3. In an embodiment, the grout 400 is formed of a cement material and, in a further embodiment, is formed of a non-shrink cement material. The grout 400, as shown in FIG. 2, is filled in the base recess 120 around the end 210 of the wall 200 and covering the shim 300. The grout 400 is then cured.

The grout 400, in a cured state shown in FIG. 2, is aligned with the top surface 110 of the base 100. The grout 400 forms a wall joint 410 between the wall 200 and the grout 400 at the side surfaces 220 of the wall 200 and forms a base joint 420 between the base 100 and the grout 400 at the top surface 110 of the base 100.

In a step 750 shown in FIG. 3, a caulk 500 is applied at the wall joints 410 between the grout 400 and the side surfaces 220 of the wall 200. In an embodiment, the grout 400 filled in the step 740 is cured before the caulk 500 is applied in the step 750.

The caulk 500, as shown in FIG. 2, is positioned just to cover the seam between the grout 400 and the wall 200 at the wall joints 410; a small portion of the bead of caulk 500 is positioned on each of the side surfaces 220 of the wall 200 and on the grout 400 adjacent to the side surface 220. The caulk 500 is an elastomeric joint sealant that can resiliently deform and remain intact when the wall 200 moves with respect to the grout 400. In an embodiment, the caulk 500 is a polyurethane-based joint sealant, and may be Sikaflex®-1A.

In a step 760 shown in FIG. 3, an epoxy layer 600 is disposed over the caulk 500 and over the grout 400. In an embodiment, the caulk 500 applied in the step 750 is cured before the epoxy layer 600 is applied in the step 760.

The epoxy layer 600, as shown in FIG. 2, is positioned over the caulk 500 and the grout 400 at the wall joints 410 and extends over the grout 400 and over the top surface 110 of the base 100. The epoxy layer 600 covers the wall joints 410 and covers the base joints 420 between the base 100 and the grout 400. The epoxy layer 600 extends in a single plane P that is parallel to the top surface 110 of the base 100; the epoxy layer 600 does not extend in the vertical direction V and is not applied or otherwise disposed on the side surfaces 220 of the wall 200. The epoxy layer 600 extends in the width direction W to a length 610 from the wall 200 that is sufficient to be positioned on and cover a portion of the top surface 110 of the base 100.

The epoxy layer 600 is a two-part epoxy coating. In an embodiment, the epoxy layer 600 is Sikaguard®-62. In other embodiments, the epoxy layer 600 may be any kind of epoxy usable in the concrete retention applications described herein.

The tank wall connection 20 of the present invention prevents moisture from entering the wall joints 410 and the base joints 420. The caulk 500 is positioned directly in the wall joints 410 and is an elastomeric material that elastically deforms and remains intact even when the wall 200 deflects under a load. The caulk 500 is further protected by the epoxy layer 600, which also covers the base joints 420. The epoxy layer 600 is not positioned on the wall 200 and, even when the wall 200 deflects, the epoxy layer 600 is not deformed and is less susceptible to cracking than in the prior art. The tank wall connection 20 thus provides a more effective moisture barrier that increases the useful life of the retaining tank 10 or other retention structure formed by the walls 200 and base 100 connected by the tank wall connection 20.

Claims

1. A tank wall connection, comprising:

a base having a base recess;

a wall having an end positioned in the base recess;

a grout filled in the base recess around the end of the wall;

a caulk disposed at a wall joint between the wall and the grout; and

an epoxy layer disposed over the caulk and the grout at the wall joint.

2. The tank wall connection of claim 1, wherein the base has a top surface and the base recess extends into the top surface.

3. The tank wall connection of claim 2, wherein the epoxy layer extends over the top surface of the base.

4. The tank wall connection of claim 3, wherein the grout is aligned with the top surface of the base.

5. The tank wall connection of claim 1, wherein the epoxy layer is disposed over the base.

6. The tank wall connection of claim 5, wherein the epoxy layer is disposed over a base joint between the base and the grout.

7. The tank wall connection of claim 1, wherein the epoxy layer is not disposed on the wall.

8. The tank wall connection of claim 1, further comprising a shim positioned in the base recess.

9. The tank wall connection of claim 8, wherein the shim is positioned between the end of the wall and the base.

10. The tank wall connection of claim 8, wherein the shim is covered by the grout.

11. The tank wall connection of claim 8, wherein the shim is formed of a plastic material.

12. The tank wall connection of claim 1, wherein the base and the wall are each formed of a concrete material.

13. The tank wall connection of claim 1, wherein the epoxy layer extends in a single plane.

14. A process of connecting a wall and a base in a retaining tank, comprising:

providing the base with a base recess;

positioning an end of the wall in the base recess;

filling the base recess with a grout around the end of the wall;

applying a caulk at a wall joint between the wall and the grout; and

applying an epoxy layer over the caulk and the grout at the wall joint.

15. The process of claim 14, wherein the grout is cured before the caulk is applied.

16. The process of claim 14, wherein the caulk is cured before the epoxy layer is applied.

17. The process of claim 14, wherein the epoxy layer is not applied on the wall.

18. The process of claim 14, wherein the epoxy layer is applied over the base.

19. The process of claim 18, wherein the epoxy layer covers a base joint between the grout and the base.

20. The process of claim 14, further comprising positioning a shim in the base recess before positioning the end of the wall in the base recess.