Simulation on impact of liquid sloshing on baffles in liquid tankers

Abstract

The baffles of some road tankers for liquefied gas (hereinafter referred to as liquid tankers) are found to be cracked or fallen off during the regular inspection. If the failed baffles are not repaired and replaced in time, the safe operation of the liquid tankers will be seriously affected. According to the actual service conditions of the liquid tankers, the liquid sloshing within the liquid tankers that brake at different accelerations was simulated with Fluent software, and in this way, the impact force of each baffle was obtained. In addition, the changing law of impact force applied to the baffles at different positions over time under the action of different inertial loads was analyzed. The results show that the maximum impact force applied to the baffles is generated in the deceleration stage of liquid tankers, and the impact force of baffles increases with the increasing of the braking acceleration. In addition, the baffle subjected to the maximum positive and negative impact force is located at the same position among the many baffles within the tanker, which has nothing to do with the braking acceleration of liquid tankers. The research results could provide some guidance for the inspection and design of baffles of liquid tankers.

Keywords

• liquid tankers
• liquid sloshing
• baffles
• impact force
• finite element model