A Numerical Approach of Assessing Fluid Oscillatory Motions in 3D Partially Filled Horizontal Cylindrical Tanks

Abstract

The longitudinal liquid dynamics in partially filled horizontal cylindrical tanks is studied on the basis of a fully 3D mathematical approach. Governing equations based on the potential flow theory for liquid in tanks are solved to obtain natural frequencies and transient liquid motion. The governing equations are transformed by continuous coordinate mappings to perform the discretization in the computational domain for overcoming the difficulties in dealing with the boundary conditions at the curved walls and the free surface. The natural frequencies of liquid sloshing in partially filled tanks are determined by solving the generalized eigenvalue problem of liquid under different fill levels and for different tank configurations. The efficiency of the method is presented by comparing with the frequency results reported in other publications.