Finite Element Analysis of Sloshing in Rectangular Liquid-filled Tanks

The focus of the present paper is on the development of a finite element formulation to investigate the sloshing of liquids in partially filled rigid rectangular tanks undergoing base excitation. The liquid domain is discretized into two-dimensional four-node rectangular elements with the liquid velocity potential representing the nodal degrees of freedom. Liquid sloshing effects induced by both steady-state harmonic and arbitrary horizontal base excitation are investigated in terms of the slosh frequencies, liquid velocity field, free surface displacement and hydrodynamic forces acting on the tank walls. The model is employed to study the effects of inserting a bottom-mounted vertical rigid baffle, as well as side-mounted horizontal baffles that are wholly immersed in the liquid region, in an attempt to investigate their viability in acting as slosh suppression devices.