Simulating Fluid and Structure Interaction using Exponential Basis Functions

In this paper a meshless method using exponential basis functions is developed for fluid-structure interaction in liquid tanks undergoing non-linear sloshing. The formulation in the fluid part is based on the use of Navier-Stokes equations, presented in Lagrangian description as Laplacian of the pressure, for inviscid incompressible fluids. The use of exponential basis functions satisfying the Laplace equation leads to a strong form of volume preservation which has a direct effect on the accuracy of the pressure field. In a boundary node style, the bases are used to incrementally solve the fluid part in space and time. The elastic structure is discretized by the finite elements and analyzed by the Newmark method. The direct use of the pressure, as the potential of the acceleration, helps to find the loads acting on the structure in a straight-forward manner. The interaction equations are derived and used in the analysis of a tank with elastic walls. The overall formulation may be implemented simply. To demonstrate the efficiency of the solution, the obtained results are compared with those obtained from a finite elements solution using Lagrangian description. The results show that while the wave height and the oscillations of elastic walls of the two analyses are in good agreement with each other; the use of the proposed meshless analysis not only leads to accurate hydrodynamic pressure but also reduces the computational time to one-eighth of the time needed for the finite elements analysis.

Keywords:

Fluid , Meshless method , Exponential basis functions , structure interaction , Lagrangian description for fluids , Nonlinear sloshing