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Technical Paper

Optimal Tank Geometry to Enhance Static Roll Stability of Partially Filled Tank Vehicles

1999-11-15
1999-01-3730
A generic tank cross-section is formulated to describe the geometry of currently used tanks in transportation of fuel oils and bulk liquids, and to explore optimal tank geometry for enhancement of roll stability limit of tank vehicle combinations. The tank periphery, composed of 8 circular arcs symmetric about the vertical axis, allows more design flexibility in view of the roll stability limits than the conventional tank shapes. A shape optimization problem is formulated to minimize the overturning moment imposed on the vehicle due to c.g. height of the liquid load, and the lateral and vertical movement of the liquid bulk within the partly filled tank. Different optimal tank cross-sections are proposed corresponding to varying fill conditions, while the total cross-sectional area, overall height and overall width are constrained to specified values.
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