Citation

Modaressi-Tehrani K, Rakheja S, Sedaghati R. Proc. Inst. Mech. Eng. Pt. D J. Automobile Eng. 2006; 220(3): 289-301.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1243/09544070D01705

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

A non-linear fluid slosh analysis of a partially filled circular tank is performed to illustrate the significance of transient fluid motion on the resulting destabilizing forces and moments imposed on the tank structure and thus the vehicle. The analyses are performed on a clean bore tank of circular cross-section for various fill volumes and subject to different magnitudes of steady as well as harmonic lateral acceleration using the FLUENT software. The results of the study are presented in terms of transient forces and moments caused by the cargo slosh, which directly relate to the roll dynamic performance of the partly filled tank trucks. A relationship between the lateral force and the resulting roll moment is derived, which suggests that the roll moment could be defined as a function of the horizontal force and tank radius, irrespective of the translation of the centre-of-mass coordinates. The deviations of the forces and overturning moment from those predicted using quasi-static (QS) load shift analysis are also presented and discussed. The influence of fluid viscosity on the transient behaviour is further investigated under time-varying lateral acceleration in terms of slosh damping rate and peak responses. The results of the study suggest that the magnitude of transient roll moment could be 1.57 times larger than corresponding mean values that are very close to those predicted using the QS analysis. Analysis of the partly filled tank under harmonic lateral acceleration excitations shows that the peak values of the lateral slosh force and the overturning moment occur during the first oscillation. The magnitude of the peak overturning moment is strongly dependent upon the frequency of the lateral acceleration excitation.

Language: en