Application of digital image correlation (DIC) to sloshing liquids

Liquid sloshing is one of the major issues for the storage and transportation of liquid such as fuel tanks. This topic has been investigated with numerical simulations or by experimental methods. However, simulations are based on many assumptions and the results sometimes cannot fully describe the actual movements of the liquid inside the tank. On the other hand, sloshing experiments are usually conducted with two-dimensional images taken from the side of a liquid tank. This renders only limited information because liquid sloshing is three-dimensional in nature in majority of the tank structures. Therefore, current research is aimed to develop an experimental method, which is empowered by the state-of-the-art digital image correlation (DIC) technique that is capable of measuring three-dimensional (3D) surface profile of a sloshing liquid. The 3D sloshing surface profile of the liquid in a container oscillating horizontally was investigated to demonstrate the technique. The results showed that the accuracy of the proposed DIC-based experimental method is within 3.0% and the repeatability can be controlled within 4.0% when compared with more established method. The effects of different liquid depth on the surface profile of sloshing liquid were then studied by using the proposed technique.