Tank Sloshing Interaction With Elastic Support Structure

A fully nonlinear 2-D σ-transformed finite difference solver has been developed based on inviscid flow equations in rectangular tanks. The fluid equations are coupled to an elastic support structure. Sloshing motion are simulated during structural vibration cycles at and outside resonance. The wave tank acts as a Tuned Liquid Damper (TLD). The TLD response is highly nonlinear due to the liquid sloshing. The solver is valid at any water depth except for small depth when shallow water waves and viscous effects would become important. Results of liquid sloshing induced by horizontal base excitations are presented for small to steep non-breaking waves. The effectiveness of the TLD is discussed through predictions of coupling frequencies of the tank-structural system for different tank sizes and mass ratios between fluid and structure. Good agreement is achieved between numerical model and first-order theory. It was found that the system response is extremely sensitive to small changes in forcing frequency. Furthermore, the solver removes the need for free-surface smoothing for the cases considered herein. The numerical model provides a quick and accurate way of determining system eigenfrequencies which can be hard to identify and interpret in physical experiments. Therefore the numerical solver could serve as a valuable guidance to physical experiments. The present studies can easily be expanded to include multiple wave tanks to investigate tank interaction effects, and thus cover suppression of a wider range of frequencies.