An improved SPH method for modeling liquid sloshing dynamics

Smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) is a popular meshfree, Lagrangian particle method with attractive features in modeling liquid sloshing dynamics, which is usually associated with changing and breakup of free surfaces, strong turbulence and vortex, and “violent” fluid–solid interaction. This paper presents an improved SPH method for modeling liquid sloshing dynamics. Firstly, modified schemes for approximating density (density correction) and kernel gradient (kernel gradient correction, or KGC) have been used to achieve better accuracy with smoother pressure field. Secondly, the Reynolds Averaged turbulence model is incorporated into the SPH method to describe the turbulence effects. Thirdly, a coupled dynamic solid boundary treatment (SBT) algorithm has been proposed to improve the accuracy near the solid boundary areas. The new SBT algorithm consists of a kernel-like, soft repulsive force between approaching fluid and solid particles, and a reliable numerical approximation scheme for estimating field functions of virtual solid particles. Three numerical examples are modeled using this improved SPH method, and the obtained numerical results agree well with experimental observations and results from other sources.

► The improved SPH method has better accuracy with smoother pressure field.
► The SPH method can well describe turbulence effects with RANS model.
► The SBT algorithm can treat boundaries in arbitrary shape with better accuracy.
► The SPH method can well simulate physics inherent in liquid sloshing dynamics.