Oscillations of a vessel containing a viscous fluid

Abstract

The oscillations of a rigid body having a cavity partially filled with an ideal fluid have been studied in numerous reports, for example, [1–6]. Certain analogous problems in the case of a viscous fluid for particular shapes of the cavity were considered in [6, 7]. The general equations of motion of a rigid body having a cavity partially filled with a viscous liquid were derived in [8]. These equations were obtained for a cavity of arbitrary form under the following assumptions: 1) the body and the liquid perform small oscillations (linear approximation applicable); 2) the Reynolds number is large (viscosity is small). In the case of an ideal liquid the equations of [8] become the previously known equations of [2–6]. In the present paper, on the basis of the equations of [8], we study the free and the forced oscillations of a body with a cavity (vessel) which is partially filled with a viscous liquid. For simplicity we consider translational oscillations of a body with a liquid, since even in this case the characteristic mechanical properties of the system resulting from the viscosity of the liquid and the presence of a free surface manifest themselves.