Experimental and numerical investigation of the effect of baffle arrangements on the damping of liquid sloshing

In this dissertation, liquid sloshing motion in a rectangular tank was investigated. Using a frequency-controlled shake table, a series of experiments were conducted to analyze the dynamics of liquid sloshing in the tank with and without baffles. In the absence of baffles, experimental studies were carried out at various excitation frequencies, excitation amplitudes, and fill levels; whereas, in the presence of vertical baffles, the effect of different number and arrangement of baffles placed on the tank bottom on sloshing behavior was examined under various excitation frequencies and liquid depths. Thanks to the video images recorded with the smartphone camera that moved with the experimental tank, liquid sloshing motions could be analyzed in detail using image processing techniques. Experimental measurements of water level variations obtained with virtual depth gauge at different points were compared with analytical solutions based on linear theory and numerical model results based on Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations. Numerical analyses were performed using FLOW - 3D HYDRO software, which gives successful results in solving free surface flows. In the study, a novel image processing algorithm was developed to analyze time-dependent free water surface variations, despite the limitations of traditional sensor measurements during the examination of sloshing motion. This algorithm provides detailed analysis of the pixels in the images obtained from the video recordings of the time-varying sloshing motion, making it possible to determine the maximum or minimum water levels occurring at each point throughout the tank on a single image. This new methodology, which shows the sloshing behavior over time in a more comprehensible and simple way by reducing a large number of images to a single image, will contribute to the solution of many problems in fluid dynamics and engineering applications. Within the scope of the thesis, this new approach was taken as the basis for understanding and analyzing the sloshing behavior in the experiments conducted with and without baffled conditions.