Improving Spacecraft Fuel Tank Design: Reducing Sloshing in Rockets

Several commercial space launch systems have been developed recently that use powerful and reusable liquid-fueled rockets, requiring engineers to understand how to extend the lifespan of reusable rocket stages. Structural fatigue and failure of these reusable stages is caused by sloshing of the liquid fuel and oxidizer within pressurized tanks. Conventional testing of the sloshing behavior in these tanks under realistic conditions is extremely costly and nearly impossible. Additionally, analytical solutions tend to ignore key sloshing behavior details.

Physics-based high-fidelity simulations are extremely valuable tools for performing analysis and design studies of these complex systems. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis provides critical insights for deciphering fuel motion and depletion regime during sloshing. This helps create a better tank design and improve mission trajectory prediction accuracy and planning.

Join us for this free webinar that dynamically showcases ANSYS’ capabilities for simulating the physics of sloshing, including advanced preprocessing tools for geometry discretization (ANSYS SpaceClaim and ANSYS Fluent). Additionally, it spotlights ANSYS’ strong portfolio of solution methods for modeling turbulent multiphase flows and discusses insightful post-processing tools for handling flow physics (ANSYS EnSight). Lastly, the webinar applies selected real-world case studies, including examining the behavior of fuel sloshing within a spacecraft’s tank during launch and while in low-Earth orbit flight.

• Learn how to simulate the physics of sloshing with sophisticated preprocessing tools for geometry discretization.
• Discover powerful simulation solutions for modeling turbulent multiphase flows.
• Harness cutting-edge post-processing tools for effectively handling flow physics.