Numerical simulation of sloshing in liquid storing tanks by an arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian strategy

Sloshing of fluids with a free surface contained in liquid storage tanks is numerically simulated by an arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian formulation. The fluid is considered viscous and Newtonian, while the flow is assumed laminar and incompressible. A partitioned and distributed computational code is employed, which solves three instances each time step: (i) the determination of the fluid state, given by the Navier–Stokes equations, (ii) the displacement of the free surface, and (iii) the update of the position of the internal nodes of the mesh, that is deformed as a consequence of the free surface displacement. The purpose of the work is verifying the applicability of the method to sloshing problems with known solutions, as well as the resolution of some practical examples. Numerical examples include validations against analytical solutions, where the wave period and damping rate are well captured, comparisons with reference results from other authors and a sample of sloshing induced by seismic actions.