Nonlinear Finite Element Analysis of Sloshing

The disturbance on the free surface of the liquid when the liquid-filled tanks are excited is called sloshing. This paper examines the nonlinear sloshing response of the liquid free surface in partially filled two-dimensional rectangular tanks using finite element method. The liquid is assumed to be inviscid, irrotational, and incompressible; fully nonlinear potential wave theory is considered and mixed Eulerian-Lagrangian scheme is adopted. The velocities are obtained from potential using least square method for accurate evaluation. The fourth-order Runge-Kutta method is employed to advance the solution in time. A regridding technique based on cubic spline is employed to avoid numerical instabilities. Regular harmonic excitations and random excitations are used as the external disturbance to the container. The results obtained are compared with published results to validate the numerical method developed.