The dynamic response of the liquid, subjected to sloshing due to harmonic excitation in a 3D tank is a problem of practical interest. In the present study, incompressible Navier-Stokes equations are numerically solved in conjunction with volume of fluid (VOF) approach for tracking the gas-liquid interface. The free surface displacement under resonant and non-resonant conditions is validated for a 2-D tank model, against standard literature. The scheme is then applied to a 3D tank, subjected to harmonic excitations, to simulate the free surface height and the resulting hydrodynamic forces and moments along the walls of the storage tank. A general purpose OPEN FOAM community code is employed for enabling these simulations.

Keywords: Sloshing, 3D tank, Harmonic excitation, VOF, Free surface, Forces & moments.