Sloshing reduction in a swaying tank with porous baffles using scaled boundary finite element method

Abstract

Sloshing is an inevitable phenomenon in an ocean-going vessel that can have adverse effects. In this work, the mitigation of sloshing is investigated using multiple thin porous baffles of various configurations in a partially filled swaying tank. The boundary value problem is solved within the framework of a linearized potential flow theory using the scaled boundary finite element method (SBFEM). The flow through the thin porous baffles is assumed to follow Darcy's law. The computational domain is divided into a minimum number of subdomains due to the presence of porous baffles and to ensure star convexity. Higher-order polynomials are used along each subdomain edge to represent the unknown field, i.e., velocity potential. The developed numerical model is validated with the known results in the literature. Subsequently, various results, such as the amplification factor and the forces of the tank wall, are presented and discussed for the effect of configuration, porosity, slosh tank width, depth of baffle submergence and the space between adjacent baffles. From the parametric study, it is observed that top-mounted baffles enhance sloshing suppression by $50\%$ compared to bottom-mounted vertical baffles, considering all sloshing modes. Assessing the overall effectiveness, top-mounted convex baffle configuration emerges as the most efficient configuration for sloshing suppression, achieving a well-balanced reduction across all modes.