Equivalent mechanical model of liquid sloshing in multi-baffled containers

This study presents a method to determine an equivalent mechanical model (EMM) for multi-baffled containers with arbitrary geometries. The method is implemented for 2D and axisymmetric containers. The Laplace equation and Green׳s theorem are used to develop the fluid model and the boundary element method (BEM) is used to solve the fluid field governing equation. Moreover, a zoning method is utilized to model arbitrary arrangements of baffles in multi-baffled containers and a reduced order model is developed to model the free-surface sloshing. The exerted hydrodynamic pressure distribution, forces and moments on the walls of the container are determined based on the Bernoulli equation and a set of recursive formulation is presented to develop the model for multi-baffled containers.The results are validated in comparison with the literature and very good agreement is achieved. Furthermore, the effects of baffle attributes on the EMM parameters are also investigated and some conclusions are outlined.