The Numerical Simulation of Liquid Sloshing in Microgravity

The influence of sloshing liquid on board spacecraft is investigated. Experiments have been carried out with the satellite Sloshsat FLEVO, containing a partially filled water tank. The experiments were supported by a computational model for 3D incompressible free-surface flow, including capillary surface physics and coupled solid-liquid interaction dynamics. Experiments and numerical simulations are compared. The obtained frequencies in angular velocities are reasonably comparable at various satellite manoeuvres. The damping of nutation amplitudes in the simulations is too large, as a result of additional diffusion in the computational model. At low rotational rates and small-scale liquid motion, capillary effects are important for the damping of manoeuvre-induced oscillations.