One of the conventional approaches of structural analysis of containers or tanks accounting for fluid sloshing is based on the dynamic equilibrium of fluid in constant acceleration. This method does not account for the effect of structural deformation on fluid, which may affect the solution accuracy. During sloshing, the liquid exerts a dynamic force on the surrounding walls, which results in high strains at the welded joints of the tank and its mounting structure. This paper compares simulation techniques, which can handle highly nonlinear, dynamic, and random processes of sloshing motion, as well as tackle the variability due to other parameters such as tank motion and liquid depth. This paper discusses Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL), smoothed-particle hydrodynamics (SPH), and fluid (computational fluid dynamics, CFD)-structural (finite element analysis, FEA) one-way coupled techniques through the simulation of the sloshing phenomenon in a tank using “Abaqus” software tools. The CEL and SPH capabilities allow for the interaction between the Lagrangian and Eulerian domain. Representing fluids by using Eulerian elements eliminates the problem of extreme element deformation associated with Lagrangian elements. The one-way coupled method allows modeling of the tank sloshing phenomenon using the volume of fluid (VOF) multiphase CFD methodology, and it allows pressure mapping obtained from CFD on the structural domain. These techniques are compared based on solution accuracy and computational efficiency, efforts required to create the model. These methods are validated against the test data. Scope, advantages, and limitations are summarized along with important considerations for each method.
Fluid-Structure Interaction-Based Simulation Methods for Fluid Sloshing in Tanks
Sae Technical Papers
Automotive Technical Papers ; 2019
2019-12-06
Conference paper
English
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