Abstract:Liquid-storage tanks, mostly used to reserve rinsing, sewerage, petroleum and chemistry liquid, are broadly applied in such industry corporations as water-supply and drainage industry, sewerage-disposal industry, petroleum industry, chemistry industry and so on. For the sake of computing preferably earthquake responding of these structures, the characteristics of their free vibration, like frequency of free vibration and corresponding oscillation-mode, have to be known beforehand. Therefore, for the liquid-storage tanks without liquid, the equations about oscillation-mode and frequency based on bending-shearing model are deduced, and at the same time, the calculation tables and chart of former three oscillation-modes are presented by using MATLAB program, and free vibration characteristics using different deformation theory in different heights are analyzed. The correctness of the result is proved by calculation example, and a theory base is provided for analyzing subsequent free vibration and earthquake responding of this type of structure.