Experimental Study on Liquid Sloshing of a Vane-type Surface Tension Tank for Satellite

Abstract

Experiment research on liquid sloshing performance of a vane type tank used in high orbit satellite is carried out. The liquid sloshing tests of the tank without propellant management device (PMD) are developed under different liquid lling ratios. Experimental test results are in good agreement with theoretical results, which shows the reliability of test system. Liquid sloshing tests of the tank with PMD are performed with different directions and liquid lling ratios. There has a linear relationship between sloshing frequency and liquid lling ratio of vertical installation test when the liquid-gas interface is in the hemisphere. When the gas-liquid interface is in the cylindrical section, the sloshing frequency of vertical installation test remains basically unchanged. The inverted conical accumulator structure of PMD can increases the damping in the tank of vertical installation. The sloshing mass for vertical direction is less than the result of horizontal direction. Liquid sloshing results of the vane type propellant tank will provide a guidance for the design of spacecraft structure and control system.