Numerical investigation on the effect of baffles on liquid sloshing in 3D rectangular tanks based on nonlinear boundary element method

Abstract

The numerical simulation of liquid sloshing in the three-dimensional tanks under horizontal excitation and roll excitation was carried out, and the inhibition effect of different baffles on the sloshing phenomenon was investigated. The numerical calculations were carried out by the nonlinear Boundary Element Method (BEM) with Green's theorem based on the potential flow, which was conducted with the governing equation corresponding to the boundaries of each region. The validity of the method was verified by comparing with experimental values and published literatures. The horizontal baffle, the vertical baffle and the T-shaped baffle in the sloshing tanks were investigated respectively, and the baffles' position, dimension and the liquid depth were provided and discussed in detail. It is drawn that the baffle shape plays a non-negligible role in the tank sloshing. The vertical baffle is a more effective way to reduce the sloshing amplitude when the tank is under a horizontal harmonic excitation while the horizontal baffle is a more effective way when the tank is under a roll excitation. The amplitude of free surface elevation at right tank wall decreases with the increasing of the horizontal baffle length and the vertical baffle height. Although the T-shaped baffle has the best suppression effect on tank sloshing under horizontal excitation, it has limited suppression effect under roll excitation and will complicate the sloshing phenomenon when changing baffle height.

Keywords

• Liquid sloshing
• Boundary element method
• Baffled tank
• Roll excitation
• Horizontal excitation