Dynamic analysis of water storage tank with rigid block at bottom

Abstract

The present paper deals with the finite element analysis of water tanks with rigid baffle. Fluid is discretized by two dimensional eight-node isoparametric elements and the governing equation is simulated by pressure based formulation to reduce the degrees of freedom in the domain. Both free vibration and force vibration analysis are carried out for different sizes and positions of block at tank bottom. The fundamental frequency depends on block height and it reduces with the increase of block height. The variation of hydrodynamic pressure on tank walls not only depends of the exciting frequency but also on the size and position of rigid block at tank bottom. The hydrodynamic pressure has higher value when the exciting frequency is equal and lower than the fundamental frequency of the water in the tank. Similarly, the hydrodynamic pressure increases with the increase of width of the block for all exciting frequencies when the block is at the centre of tank. The left and right walls of tank have experienced different hydrodynamic pressure when the block is placed at off-centre. However, the increase in hydrodynamic pressure on nearest tank wall becomes insignificant after a certain value of the distance between the wall and the rigid block.