U-tube type stabilizers have been used in ships and offshore vessels to reduce roll motion. The motion of the fluid in the tank creates moments that counteracts the roll moment of the ship. With space and weight constraints, a well designed U-tube tank is crucial for providing effective stabilization. Geometric parameters play important roles in defining the stabilizing performance of such tanks. The effects of these parameters are sometimes interrelated. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is a useful tool that can be used to predict stabilizing moments and phase lags of U-tube tanks in a short period of time. In order to use the CFD code reliably, validation is required.
In this paper, a CFD code’s ability to predict stabilizing moments created by fluid in various U-tube tank geometries was validated. The effects of tank parameters on the stabilizing moments were investigated and compared with published experiment data. The results were found to be in good agreement with the model test data. The code can be used to give a preliminary evaluation of tank performance for design purposes.