Numerical simulations of shallow-water sloshing coupled to horizontal vessel motion in the presence of a time-dependent porous baffle

Abstract

Shallow-water fluid sloshing in the Lagrangian Particle Path formulation, with the addition of an energy-extracting porous baffle, is simulated numerically using a symplectic numerical scheme which captures, in an essential way, the energy exchange. The fluid motion in a rectangular vessel is dynamically coupled to a surface-piercing porous baffle. The fluid transmission through the baffle is characterized by a nonlinear Darcy–Forchheimer model equation. The numerical scheme is symplectic, based on the implicit-midpoint rule, and thus is strategically designed to maintain the energy partition between the fluid and vessel throughout numerous time steps. Our results demonstrate the non-conservative nature of the system, with the porous baffle effectively dissipating energy from the overall system. Furthermore, we present findings that demonstrate the role of time-periodic variations in baffle porosity on energy dissipation. By manipulating the frequency and magnitude of this time-dependent variability, it is established that a greater amount of energy can be extracted from the system compared with the optimal fixed porosity baffle. These results shed new light on potential strategies for enhancing energy dissipation in such configurations.