PSME model of parametric excitation of two-layer liquid in a tank

• Non-linear internal and surface sloshing waves in a two-layer rectangular tank are simulated using a PSME method.
• A detailed analysis is provided of liquid motions in a shallow water tank due to excitations in the horizontal and the vertical directions.
• The internal wave regimes and patterns are highly dependent on the pycnocline, especially when the excitation frequency is large.
• A PSME is capable to model non-linear sloshing waves in a two-layer rectangular tank.

Internal waves driven by external excitation constitute important phenomena that are often encountered in environmental fluid mechanics. In this study, a pseudospectral σ-transformation model is used to simulate parametric excitation of stratified liquid in a two-layer rectangular tank. The σ-transformation maps the physical domain including the liquid free surface, the interface between the liquid layers, and the bed, onto a pair of fixed rectangular computational domains corresponding to the two layers. The governing equation and boundary conditions are discretised using Chebyshev collocation formulae. The numerical model is verified for two analytical sloshing problems: horizontal excitation of constant density liquid in a rectangular tank, and vertical excitation of stratified liquid in a rectangular tank. A detailed analysis is provided of liquid motions in a shallow water tank due to excitations in the horizontal and the vertical directions. Also, the effect of pycnocline on the wave motions and patterns is studied. It is found that wave regimes and patterns are considerably influenced by the pycnocline, especially when the excitation frequency is large. The present study demonstrates that a pseudospectral σ-transformation is capable to model non-linear sloshing waves in a two-layer rectangular tank.