Mitigation of liquid sloshing by multiple layers of dual horizontal baffles with equal/unequal baffle widths

Abstract

Present work aimed to discover the inhibiting efficacy of multiple layers of dual horizontal baffles (multiple DHBs) on liquid sloshing under harmonic and seismic excitations by applying a Navier-Stokes solver. The multiple DHBs with equal/unequal baffle width (EBW/UBW) were considered, where that of UBW was divided into two categories — oblique and concave UBW schemes. Their damping effects were illustrated by estimating the free surface and pressure results, and the velocity and vortex fields were also discussed. The results showed that the EBW scheme with wider width was better than the narrow one. Both UBW schemes could effectively inhibit the resonant sloshing wave and were also superior to the EBW scheme in damping the sloshing amplitude and hydrodynamic load at lower parts of the tank sidewall. Overall, all baffle schemes could effectively suppress the total forces acting on the tank sidewall. Finally, El Centro earthquake was imposed on the charging system to guarantee a violent sloshing wave, and the damping efficacy of various baffles on such wave was numerically investigated.