Nonlinear sloshing of liquid in rigid cylindrical container with a rigid annular baffle: free vibration

In this paper, the free nonlinear sloshing of liquid in a rigid partially liquid-filled cylindrical container with a rigid annular baffle is investigated. The liquid domain is firstly divided into four simple sub-domains so that the liquid velocity potential in each sub-domain has continuous boundary conditions of class (hbox {C}^{1}) . Then, based on the Bateman–Luke variational principle, the equivalent variational formulation of the free boundary problem for the liquid in a baffled container is derived. By introducing the generalized time-dependent coordinates, the surface wave height and the velocity potential are expanded in the form of generalized Fourier series. Substituting the series expression of surface wave height and velocity potential into the variational formulation enables us to obtain the infinite dimensional modal system. Finally, based on the Moiseev asymptotic relations, the infinite dimensional modal system is reduced to a finite dimensional modal system. Good agreements have been achieved by comparing the present results with those obtained from the Gavrilyuk’s solutions. The effects of baffle parameters and initial conditions on the nonlinear sloshing of liquid are discussed in detail.