Experimental Methodology and Numerical Technique for 6-DOF Tank Slosh Dynamics

The subject of study is the influence of slosh dynamics in liquid tanks with multiple degrees of freedom motion under various gravity environments. This work details a novel framework designed to yield an experimental data set used for Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model validation. It is proposed that the tank rigid body acceleration history relative to an inertial frame, along with the initial liquid distribution and tank geometry, uniquely determines a slosh event. Experimental measurements of slosh are made using platforms at different gravitational levels, including regular gravity testing (groundbased testing), reduced gravity testing (parabolic flights testing) and micro gravity testing (space testing in International Space Station). To benchmark the proposed hypothesis, Volume of Fluid (VOF) model and rigid body solver were used to simulate the tank motion coupled with slosh event. Experimental results were correlated to CFD simulation results for the assessment of the proposed approach ability of correctly predicting liquid sloshing in moving tanks.