The elastic linear analysis of a storage tank made up of a cylindrical upper and conical lower parts is presented. The finite element method is used in which the two components are modelled by cylindrical and conical shell elements, respectively. The two elements are based on assumed strains rather than displacement fields. They satisfy the exact requirement of rigid body modes of displacements and have the only essential external degrees of freedom. Such tanks exhibit large stresses at the junction between the cylindrical and conical components.The high level of stresses can be reduced by the use of a circular girder near the junction. The effect of the position of the girder and other parameters on the level of deformation and stresses are presented.NOTATIONAG Flange cross-sectional area of ringa i Coefficients of the shape functionsDI Height of stiffenerE Young's modulusEC Eccentricity of supportHT Height of cylindrical shellL Height of conical shellM x Longitudinal bending stress resultantN x Axial direct stress resultantN - Circumferential direct stress resultantR Radius of curvatures Meridional coordinate of the conical shellt 1 Thickness of the cylindrical shellt 2 Combined thickness of the shell and the stiffener webt 3 Thickness of the conical shellu, v, w Axial, circumferential and normal displacementsx, y, z Curvilinear coordinatesα Angle of inclination of the coneβ Angle subtended by the shell or the ring elementθ Angular coordinateμ Poisson's ratioζ Position of stiffener from junction