Numerical studies on sloshing in rectangular tanks using a tree-based adaptive solver and experimental validation

•A tree-based adaptive parallel solver was employed to address sloshing problem.•Experiments were conducted at different external frequencies with two water depths.•Pressures of simulation agree well with pressures of experiments.•Some phenomena of fluid motion were observed during experiments.

As liquid cargo transport developing, hull structural stability and strength are highlighted in various engineering areas due to tanks partially filled with fluid. Sloshing may be accounted as unpredictable force imposed on the whole faces of the tank walls. Water movement in rectangular tanks, under rolling and horizontal excitations, is investigated by numerical and experimental approaches. A parallel code, which directly discretizes the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations, coupled with VOF and tree-based adaptive algorithm, is employed to simulate the behavior of 2D fluid motion. A series of experiments are carried out to measure the pressures on the tank walls and under the water. A good agreement is shown in this paper and the values obtained by computations are validated. Through this, some studies are done on the basis of different excitation frequencies and filled levels.