Jialong Jiao

Although tank sloshing in rigid tanks has been widely studied, sloshing behavior in elastic-walled tanks remains less understood despite its engineering relevance. This paper investigates the sloshing behaviors in rectangular tanks with elastic bulkheads both experimentally and numerically. Four rectangular liquid tanks with different wall thickness/elasticity were designed and fabricated for the sloshing experiments under rolling excitation motions subjected to prescribed sinusoidal roll excitation. Fluid pressure and structural stress on the side walls at different height levels as well as free surface pattern were measured and analyzed. Moreover, a two-way Computational Fluid Dynamics-Finite Element Method fluid–structure interaction model is established using the STAR-CCM+ software. The fluid domain is solved by the Finite Volume Method, while the structural deformation of wall structure is calculated by the built-in solid solver. This study systematically analyzes the effects of three different factors including fluid filling ratio, excitation frequency, and wall thickness on the tank sloshing behavior. The numerical results show good agreement with the experimental data. This study provides fundamental reference data of sloshing behavior in elastic tanks, which also provides a reference for the design and safety evaluation of flexible liquid tanks.

1. Floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) systems, which enable the offshore production, processing, and storage of LNG, are being developed to meet the increasing demand for natural gas. The perfor...

Sensing of the incident flow plays a vital role in precise maneuvering and control of underwater vehicles. Inspired by the lateral line of fish, this study develops a biomimetic flow sensing approach for identifying incident flow speed and angle of attack (AoA). A model-based estimation framework is established by integrating the boundary element method with the unscented Kalman filter. The model uses the distributed pressure data to estimate the incident flow speed and AoA. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and potential flow theory are employed to investigate the characteristics of flow around the vehicle; the pressure-sensing points that are sensitive to the flow are selected to install pressure sensors. CFD simulation and towing tank experiment demonstrate that the proposed model can estimate the AoA and incident flow speed accurately across a wide range of angles of attack. The biomimetic flow sensing model has wide application values in the hydrodynamic estimation and motion control of underwater vehicles in complex flow conditions.