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Fluid Structure Interaction Simulation of Automotive Fuel

Tank Sloshing using Nonlinear Fluid Properties

2015-26-0240
Published 01/14/2015

Avinash Dhole and Chetan Raval

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.

Rishi Shrivastava

Mahindra Engineering Services

CITATION: Dhole, A., Raval, C., and Shrivastava, R., "Fluid Structure Interaction Simulation of Automotive Fuel Tank Sloshing using
Nonlinear Fluid Properties," SAE Technical Paper 2015-26-0240, 2015, doi:10.4271/2015-26-0240.
Copyright 2015 SAE International and Copyright SAEINDIA

Abstract

Introduction

In commercial vehicles which generally have large capacity fuel tank,

sloshing of fuel and its effect on the tank structure is very important
aspect during fuel tank design. Dynamic pressures exerted by the fuel
on baffles, end plates and tank shell during sloshing can lead to
structural failures and fuel leakage problems. Fluid structure
interaction simulation of automotive fuel tank sloshing and its
correlation with physical test is demonstrated in this study.

Heavy commercial vehicles are used for long distance cargo

movement as well as severe off road applications such as dump
trucks, drilling rigs, cement mixtures etc. Since they need to travel for
longer distances, such user environment and bigger engines demand
high capacity fuel tanks of 350 to 500 L. Some of the tractors (used
for pulling trailers) even have dual fuel tanks fitted on both the sides
of the frame.

During physical sloshing test of 350 L fuel tank, cracks were

observed on center baffle and spot weld failures developed on fuel
tank shell. Same sloshing test was simulated for one sloshing cycle
using fluid structure interaction approach in LS Dyna explicit FE
solver. Water was used instead of fuel. Mesh free Smoothed Particle
Hydrodynamics (SPH) method is used to represent water as it
requires less computational time as compared to Eulerian or ALE
method. Equation of State (EOS) was defined in LS Dyna using
variable parameters of volumetric strain (EV1, EV2etc) and
constants (C1, C2etc) in order to represent the nonlinear behavior
of water accurately during sloshing event. High strain areas on baffle
and end plates were studied. Locations of weld failures and cracks
observed on the center baffle & shell during physical test correlated
quite well with simulation results.

In field, heavy commercial vehicle which carry big fuel tank

undergoes different kind of situations such as braking, cornering,
pitching etc and these dynamic scenarios lead to sloshing of quantum
of fuel moving inside the fuel tank. Complete fuel mass exerts the
pressure on the fuel tank baffles and end plates in these kind of
dynamic scenarios. In turn, they face different kinds of failures.
Cracks on baffles, spot weld failure, severe deformation on end plates
etc are quite common failure modes. To avoid these kinds of potential
failures, it is very important to understand the dynamic behavior of
fuel inside the tanks and its impact on the fuel tank structure.

Post correlation, fuel tank with modified baffle design was resimulated and found to have improved performance in terms of
reduced strain values. Same modified fuel tank design tested
physically for target number of durability cycles in the lab and found
to be meeting the requirements.

During the development of one of the commercial vehicle program,

square shaped fuel tank has been designed. Physical sloshing test of
this tank is done to check the durability of the fuel tank for defined
lifecycle requirements. This test is done with half filled fuel tank
considering this as a worst case and carried out at ARAI (Automotive
Research Association of India) as well as in-house validation lab.
Typical approach to simulate this phenomenon in CAE is two ways,
1) calculate pressure profile on baffles & end plates using CFD solver
2) Using the pressure profile drawn from CFD solver, simulate the
behavior of the fuel tank structure using any linear static FEA solver.
This approach is time consuming and requires two completely
different capabilities in order to solve the problem. Attempt has been
made here to solve this complex fluid structure interaction problem

This improved and proven CAE methodology thus became very

important and reliable step in design and development of high
capacity fuel tanks.

Hence, durability testing of fuel tanks has become very challenging

and early prediction of the potential durability failures using effective
CAE technique has become very much essential.

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using fluid structure interaction approach in LS Dyna explicit FE

solver. Nonlinear water properties have been developed in-house and
used in the simulation. Overall objective of this exercise was to
establish the correlation between test and CAE high strain regions
and suggest design modifications. This also helped to prove the
accuracy of the non-linear water properties (developed in-house) used
in simulation, increase confidence in CAE results and improve the
prediction capability for future fuel tank simulations.

finalized after number of trial runs to achieve acceleration of 3g on

the top of the fuel tank. After number of iterations, we have finalized
peak displacement input of 80 mm in 0.05 sec in fore and aft
direction with hold period of 0.5 sec in longitudinal direction. Figure
4 shows the durability cycle used for testing. Output acceleration at
top of the fuel tank is shown in Figure 5 which ensures the target
acceleration of 3g is achieved. Durability for square shaped fuel tank
was carried out with above mentioned specification in longitudinal
direction for certain specified number of hours.

Fuel Tank Design Details

A standard heavy commercial vehicle fuel tank consists of tank shell,
baffles, end plates and fastening mechanism with chassis. Design
under consideration is 350 L square shaped fuel tank with 3 baffles
and 2 end plates. Baffles are welded to tank shell by spot welds.
Baffle design have holes incorporated along the face in order to allow
fuel flow through them during sloshing and reduce the impact
intensity. End plates are welded (continuous weld) to tank shell in
order to avoid fuel leakage. This complete fuel tank assembly is
attached to frame long members via brackets and straps (see Figure
1).
Figure 2. Test Rig Setup

6. 350 L Fuel tank

7. Test bed with stationary base and oscillating mounting
8. Pneumatic actuator
9. PLC (Control System)

Figure 1. Fuel Tank Assembly

1. Fuel tank shell

Figure 3. Accelerometer Location

2. End Plate
3. Fuel tank mounting bracket
4. Holding Straps
5. Chassis long member

Physical Test Setup Details

For durability testing of the square shaped fuel tank with 350 L
capacity, tank was mounted on slip table in the same orientation axis,
as it is fitted on the vehicle using brackets and fixture arrangement.
Servo hydraulic actuator was connected to the slip table so as to
excite the fuel tank in the longitudinal direction. Unidirectional
accelerometer was used to measure acceleration and mounted at the
top of fuel tank, see Figure 3. Figure 2 shows the test setup for fuel
tank. Test specifications for durability testing of fuel tank were

Figure 4. Ramp and Hold Input for Fuel Tank Testing

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Figure 5. Output Acceleration Measured at the top of the fuel tank

Figure 6. EOS card for water SPH

Finite Element Model Details

The finite element program used in the analysis was LS DYNA [1].
This program is developed by Livermore Software Tech Corporation
(LSTC). FE modeling and setup was done in accordance to LS Dyna
requirements. Mesh model of square shaped fuel tank was prepared
using hypermesh 12.0. Shell elements were used in order to model
the tank shell, baffles & end plates (see Figure 7) A fine mesh of 10
mm average size was used for the tank to ensure accurate geometry
representation. Materials were modeled using *MAT_PIECEWISE_
LINEAR_PLASTICITY (MATL24) and stress strain curves used for
respective materials. Beams were used to model spotwelds between
baffles & tank shell and end plates & tank shell. *MAT_SPOTWELD
card was used for spotweld beams.
A homogeneous material, not undergoing any chemical reactions or
phase change, may be defined by two state variables. This relation is
called as Equation of state (EOS). Different forms of the EOS
describe different form of materials and how their volumetric
compression or expansion behavior. Here we have modeled Water
with SPH (smoothed particles hydrodynamic) element for which
*EOS_TABULATED card (see Figure 6) has been used to define non
linear behavior of water. In Figure 6 GAMA () is ratio of CP and CV,
E0 and V0 are Initial internal energy and Initial relative volume
respectively, EV1, EV2, EV3 are Volumetric strain, ln(V), where V
is relative volume. The first abscissa point, EV1, must be 0.0 or
positive if the curve extends into the tensile regime with subsequent
points decreasing monotonically. C1, C2, C3are tabulated points
for function C. *EOS_TABULATED card uses below relation
between EV1, EV2, EV3. and C1, C2, C3 to define pressure,

Non linear relationship between pressure and volumetric strain was

obtained by defining values of EV and C in EOS card of water SPH,
see Figure 6. These values were obtained by doing iterations. Density
of water was considered 1000 kg/m3. 15-20 mm pitch was taken
while creating SPH element for reducing the calculation time. Node
to surface contact was defined between water and fuel tank parts. In
model total number of elements was 94400, in which SPH count was
45743. [1] [7] [3] [5]

Figure 7. FEA Model for Fuel Tank Sloshing

SPH Theory
One of the recent advances in LS DYNA is the addition of SPH
algorithm which allows the efficient and accurate modeling of fluid
structure problems. Smoothed-particle hydrodynamics (SPH) is a
computational method used for simulating fluid flows. It was
developed by Gingold and Monaghan (1977) and Lucy (1977)
initially for astrophysical problems. It has been used in many fields of
research, including astrophysics, ballistics, volcano logy and
oceanography. It is a mesh-free Lagrangian method (where the
coordinates move with the fluid) and the resolution of the method can
easily be adjusted with respect to variables such as the density.
The smoothed-particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method works by
dividing the fluid into a set of discrete elements, referred to as
particles. These particles have a spatial distance (known as the
smoothing length), over which their properties are smoothed by a
kernel function. This means that the physical quantity of any particle
can be obtained by summing the relevant properties of all the
particles which lie within the range of the kernel.[6]

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In LS Dyna, different formulations are available to describe the

motion of fluid and these can be used for fluid structure interaction.
1.

Lagrangian formulation

2.

Eulerian formulation

3.

Arbitrary Langrangian-Eulerian formulation (ALE)

4.

Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamic (SPH)

In a comparative study [2] of all above methods, where a box was

modeled as shown in Figure 8, it has been found that measured
pressure at the center of the end plate (Point 1(sensor) in Figure 8)
are almost same. But in SPH and Lagrangian models, water retained
the form of container (see Figure 9) which would not happen in
reality. In case of fuel tank sloshing where only impact on one wall at
a time is needed, the deformation pattern (as in SPH and Lagrangian
methods) on the other side can be neglected. Also computational time
taken by SPH method was significantly lower than other approaches
(see Table 1), so SPH method has been taken up here for fuel tank
sloshing. [2] [4]

Load and Boundary Condition

In finite element model, fuel tank was constrained at straps regions in
all direction except longitudinal translation direction. This was done
by assigning MATL20 to elements of tank shell which were coming
in strap region and kept only X direction free in MATL20 card (see
Figure 10). Displacement was applied to straps using
*BOUNDARY_PRESCRIBED_MOTION_RIGID card. Gravity was
also active during the calculation and applied by *LOAD_BODY_Z
card. Ramp and hold inputs were used same as in the test (see Figure
4) and simulation was run for 1000 ms (one fore and aft motion). LS
dyna explicit version R 6.1.2 code was used for calculation.

Figure 8. Box dimensions and measurement point

Figure 10. Strap region for constraining DOF and for displacement application
Figure 9. SPH Elements Retain the Shape of Fuel tank

Result Review: TEST v/s CAE

Table 1. CPU-time comparison of different methods

Two designs were tested at ARAI for fuel tank durability. During
testing of first design-01, water leakage observed from the bottom
spot welds. When fuel tank was cut open, it was found that center
baffle had cracked at multiple locations and got disconnected at weld
spots (see Figure 11). Second design-02 with extra slots (triangular
shaped) on baffles completed target number of hours without failure
(see Figure 12).

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In the fuel tank design-02 with modified baffles shows improvement

in strain levels (see Figure 14). Strain levels at center baffle reduced
significantly.

Figure 11. Tank design-01 - Cracks at center baffle during Physical Test

Figure 12. Tank design-02 (with modified baffles) - Snap showing no failures
during Physical Test

In the fuel tank design-01, CAE results have shown high strain levels
(strains > rupture strain of respective material) exactly at the same
cracked areas around the holes of center baffle (lower half) as
observed during the physical test (see Figure 13). Strain levels were
almost similar in upper area too.

Figure 13. Correlation Results - Tank design-01

Overall results look severe than the physical testing which might be
due to absence of air in the upper portion of fuel tank. In absence of
air, water moves much freely in fuel tank and rises higher against the
baffles which results in higher strain at the upper portion.

Figure 14. Correlation Results - Tank design-02 with modified baffles

Pictorial representation of sequence of simulation is given below. See

Figure 15 and Figure 16 for forward and backward animation.
Forward movement from 0 to 50 ms and back ward from 550 to 600
ms, see Figure 4.

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Acceleration v/s time plot from virtual simulation taken at the same
location as like test shown in Figure 17. This correlates well with test
acceleration as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 17. Acceleration v/s Time Plot (Virtual Model)

Figure 15. Sequence of Simulation - Forward Movement

Conclusion & Summary

A finite element model utilizing the smoothed particle hydrodynamics
(SPH) algorithm in LS dyna was developed to simulate the behavior
of automotive fuel tanks in sloshing tests. The methodology
developed for fuel tank simulation in CAE proved to be very much
reliable and achieved good correlation with test. Also the water non
linear behavior properties developed in-house were validated and
proved to be accurate.

Future Work
Air should be modeled in upper portion of fuel tank by SPH elements
using a SPH coupling between Water SPH and Air SPH. Also
spotweld modeling should be modified in order to simulate spotweld
failure.
Current FEA simulation is capable to predict potential cracks
location. But it is possible for only one cycle. To predict number of
cycles before crack generation is another challenge which will be
addressed in further studies of fatigue failure. Output strain levels can
be used to predict total number of cycles before fatigue failure.

References

Figure 16. Sequence of Simulation - Backward Movement

1.

LS-DYNA, KEYWORD USER'S MANUAL, VOLUME I

AND VOLUME II, Livemore Software Technology Corporation
(LSTC), version 971 R6.1.0, August 2012.

2.

Vesenjak Matej1, Mullerschon Heiner2, Hummel Alexander3

and Ren Zoran1, Simulation of Fuel Sloshing - Comparative
Study,1 University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia,2 DYNAmore
GmbH, Stuttgart, Germany,3 DaimlerChrysler AG, Stuttgart,
Germany, User Forum, Bamberg 2004.

3.

Bedewi, N. and Omar, T., Modeling of Automotive Fuel Tanks

Using Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics, SAE Technical
Paper 2007-01-0682, 2007, doi:10.4271/2007-01-0682.

4.

Vesenjak M. and Ren Z., Application Aspects of the Meshless

SPH Method, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia,
Journal of the Serbian Society for Computational Mechanics /
Vol. 1 / No. 1, 2007.

Downloaded from SAE International by Daimler AG - Germany, Tuesday, July 07, 2015

5.

Shyue Keh-Ming, A Fluid-Mixture Type Algorithm for

Compressible Multicomponent Flow with Mie-Gruneisen
Equation of State, Department of Mathematics, National
Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan 106, Republic of China,
Journal of Computational Physics 171, 678-707 (2001)

6.

Smoothed-particle hydrodynamics http://en.wikipedia.org/

wiki/Smoothed_particle_hydrodynamics, Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia.

7.

LS-DYNA Examples, http://www.dynaexamples.com/sph, LSDYNA example library.

Contact Information
Mr. Avinash Dhole
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.
Trucks & Bus Division
dhole.avinash@mahindra.com
Phone No - +91 20 30694541
Mr. Rishi Shrivastava
Mahindra Engineering Services Ltd.
Shrivastava.rishi@mahindraengg.com
Phone No - + 91-20 27501106
Mr. Chetan Raval
Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.
Trucks & Bus Division
raval.chetan@mahindra.com
Phone No - +91 20 30617242

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Mahindra & Mahindra for providing
an opportunity to present this work.

Definitions/Abbreviations
ALE - Arbitrary Lagrangian Eulerian
CFD - Computational Fluid Dynamics
ARAI - Automotive Research Association of India
CAE - Computer Aided Engineering
FEA - Finite Element Analysis
SPH - Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics

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