Simulation of Multi-Liquid-Layer Sloshing With Vessel Motion by Using Moving Particle Simulation

For oil/gas production/processing platforms, multiple liquid layers can exist and their respective sloshing motions can also affect platform performance. To numerically simulate those problems, a new multi-liquid MPS (Moving Particle Simulation) method is developed. In particular, to better simulate the relevant physics, robust self-buoyancy model, interface searching model, and surface-tension model are developed. The developed multi-liquid MPS method is validated by comparisons against Molin et al’s (2012) three-liquid-sloshing experiment and the corresponding linear potential theory. The verified multi-liquid MPS program is subsequently coupled with a vessel-motion program in time domain to investigate their dynamic-coupling effects. In case of multiple liquid layers, there exist more than one sloshing natural frequencies, so the relevant physics can be much more complicated compared with the single-liquid-tank case. The numerical simulations also show that liquid cargo can function as a beneficial anti-rolling device.© 2014 ASME