Challenges on the numerical investigation of the flip-through

The present study refers to a very peculiar phenomenon that can appear during the sloshing flow in a partially filled tank: the flip-trough event. A 2D sloshing flow inside a tank, which is forced to oscillate horizontally, is studied experimentally. From the experimental point of view a novel free-surface tracking is used to characterize the details of the flip-through dynamics while impulsive wave loads are measured by using an ad hoc distributions of miniaturized pressure sensors. The extremely local character of the phenomenon investigated is used to highlight capabilities and limits of the numerical algorithms proposed: a Level Set technique to solve the Navier-Stokes equations, and a SPH method to solve the Euler equations. A suitable domain decomposition strategy is proposed to study the evolution of the airbubble entrapped during the development of the flip-through event