Sloshing waves and resonance modes of fluid in a 3D tank by a time-independent finite difference method

A 3D time-independent finite difference method is developed to solve for wave sloshing in a three-dimensional tank excited by coupled surge and sway motions. The 3D equations of fluid motion are derived in a moving coordinate system. The three-dimensional tank, with an arbitrary depth and a square base, is subjected to a range of excitation frequencies with motions that exhibit multiple degrees of freedom. For demonstration purposes the numerical scheme is validated by a benchmark study. Five types of sloshing waves were observed when the tank is excited by various excitation frequencies. A spectral analysis identified the resonant frequencies of each type of wave and the results show a strong correlation between resonant modes and the occurrence of the sloshing wave types. The method can be used to simulate fluid sloshing in a 3D tank with six-degrees of freedom. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.