JANUARY 1966 ENGINEERING NOTES 153

References
1
Ciepluch, C. C., "Effect of rapid pressure decay on solid
propellant
2
combustion/' ARS J. 31, 1584-1586 (1961).
Ciepluch, C. C., Alien, H., and Fletcher, E. A., "Ignition of
solid propellant rocket motors by injection of hypergolic fluids,"
ARS3
J. 31, 514-518 (1961).
Paulson, R. A., "Studies related to the development of a
multiple start-stop solid propellant rocket motor," University
of Minnesota Master's Thesis (May 1965).

Moment of Inertia and Damping of

Liquids in Baffled Cylindrical Tanks
FRANKLIN T. DODGE* AND DANIEL D. KANA* Fig. 2
Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas
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RATIO OF LIQUID DEPTH TO TANK DIAMETER, h/d
Liquid moment of inertia in a completely filled
closed container.

Introduction computing the sloshing forces and moments, and, in fact, it

I T has proved convenient in missile stability analyses to
represent the sloshing liquid in fuel tanks by an equivalent
mechanical model.1"4 Each vibration mode of the liquid
is treated as a degree of freedom and represented as a spring-
mass or pendulum system. One such model4 is shown in
Fig. 1; it differs from most other equivalent mechanical
models by the use of a massless disk, with moment of inertia
Idj located at the center of gravity of the liquid and coupled
to the tank motion through the dashpot c*. To understand
the significance of the disk, suppose that the free surface
motions are prevented by a rigid cap fitted to the tank and
assume that the liquid is completely frictionless. This im-
plies that the masses mn are rigidly attached to the tank and
that cd and all the cn are zero. Then: if the tank is rotated
about a transverse axis, the disk will not rotate (\f/ = — <p in
Fig. 1), and the effective moment of inertia of the liquid is
m
/liq = /O + WoW + E nkn2 (1)
tt = l
Consequently, for a frictionless fluid, Id plays no part in
is not needed at all. This, however, is not true for a real
fluid.
In Fig. 2, the ratio of /i iq for an ideal frictionless fluid to the
moment of inertia of a rigid mass of liquid of the same shape
is shown as a function of h/d for an unbaffled tank. The
liquid's inertia can be quite small. However, for a real
fluid, viscosity causes more of the fluid to follow the tank's
motion, and, thus, not only is a small amount of damping
present, but the apparent moment of inertia is somewhat
greater. As the friction increases, cd increases in proportion,
but as Cd increases, less relative motion between the tank and
the disk is possible. Thus, some of the motion is transmitted
to the disk, and a part of its inertia must be included in Eq.
(1). In the limit, as the damping increases to infinity, /iiq
approaches that of a rigid mass; in the model, this corre-
sponds to the disk attached rigidly to the tank (cd = °°).
Thus,
/liq(Cd = OO) = J r i g = /O + (2)
where / rig = md2[TV(V^)2 + rVL and m is the liquid mass.
For intermediate value of cd, /H q lies between the two values
given by Eqs. (1) and (2).
The present note gives a method for determining Id and
cd experimentally; furthermore, the differences in the model
shown in Fig. 1 and other simpler models, which do not em-
ploy moment of inertia damping, are evaluated.
Experimental Procedure
A capped tank, completely filled with water, was mounted
as a pendulum (Fig. 3). The distance from the pivot point
to the line of action of the tension springs was varied in a

Fig. 1 Mechanical model for fuel sloshing.

Received June 21, 1965; revision received July 23, 1965.

The results presented in this note were obtained during the course
of research sponsored by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center
under Contract NASS-1555. The authors gratefully acknowledge
the editing, done by Gordon L. Dugger, which substantially im-
proved the Note.
* Senior Research Engineer, Department of Mechanical
Sciences. Member AIAA. Fig. 3 View of test tank and mounting.
 154 J. SPACECRAFT VOL. 3, NO. 1

Table 1 Liquid moment of inertia in a tank with compare with these results, but the trend displayed in the
h/d — 1 at various pendulum frequencies / table seems to be reasonable, and the following simple calcu-
for various numbers of baffles n lation shows that when the width of the baffle w approaches
the baffle spacing (i.e., f o r n ^ 5 in our case), /i iq // rig should
be about 0.5.
n = 0 Assume that for these conditions the flow may be decom-
2.1 0.17 0.28 0.50 0.70 posed into two domains: the liquid contained in a hypo-
3.4 0.17 0.28 0.34 0.51 thetical cylindrical shell enclosing the baffles essentially
5.0 0.19 0.31 0.36 0.52 follows the tank motion, whereas the inner core approximates
6.6 0.51 a potential flow region similar to an unbaffled tank of diameter
d — 2w. The moment of inertia can then be computed in
number of discrete steps to obtain various natural frequencies. two parts representing these rigid "outer shell" and potential
The ring baffles, which were used in sets of one located at flow "inner core" domains:
the tank midplane with three clustered about the midplane
or five equally spaced throughout the depth, were cemented
to the tank wall. The baffles were essentially rigid.f Both MfcfA W + A (d ~ 2uO'](W/..«),-. (4)
the empty tank and the full tank natural frequencies / were where Mos and MiC are the liquid masses contained in the
measured for each spring arrangement and baffle configura- outer shell and inner core, respectively :
tion. The apparent moment of inertia about the pivot point
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axis was computed from z

2
I = V(27r/) (3)
where k is the angular spring constant. The difference be-
tween the full and the empty tank values gave Ji iq about the
pivot point. The liquid's moment of inertia about its center
of gravity axis was then obtained by the transfer axis theorem.
(This theorem, which usually applies only to rigid bodies, is
valid for the liquid here because the actual tank motion can
be thought of as a rotation about the liquid center of gravity
and a pure translation. In translation, however, the liquid
moves as a rigid body, and hence, the transfer theorem can
be used.)
Damping measurements were obtained by a logarithmic
decrement technique by shutting off the excitation at reso-
nance and recording the decay curve (for 50 cycles) on a strip
chart. The damping of the equivalent rigid system was ob-
tained by using an empty tank weighted with sufficient lead
ballast, so that the pivot points supported the same weight,
and essentially the same / was obtained as for the full tank.
The damping of the liquid alone was the difference of the full
and empty tank values.
Test Results and Correlation with Model
Results are presented in Table 1. With no baffles, I\\JIi\g.
was consistent with the results of potential flow analyses4 (see
Fig. 2 for h/d = 1.0). The liquid moment of inertia increased
with the number of baffles n, and for n = 5, 7i iq /7 ri g ^ 0.5
for / = 3.4 to 6.6 cps. There are no theoretical analyses to
0.006
0.005 —
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 i.O 1.2 1.4
INITIAL AMPLITUDE, DEGREES
Fig. 4 Liquid damping for tanks with no baffles and with
five baffles: h = d = 19.6 cm, w = 1.52 cm, and b = 3.92
cm.
t More complete details of the experimental facility and test
results are given in Ref. 5.
Mos = l - (d -
(5)
The ratio (7iiq/7rig);c is 0.21, as given in Fig. 2, for a liquid
depth to tank diameter ratio equal to h/(d — 2w) = (19.6)/
(19.6 - 3.04) - 1.18. With these values, Eq. (4) gives 7Uq =
162 kg-cm2, and from Eq. (2), 7rig = 336 kg-cm2; thus,
Iiia/Iris = 0.48. This value compares well with the results
(Table 1) for a tank with five baffles and/ = 3.4 to 6.6 cps.
The experimental results in Fig. 4 show that the log decre-
ment was only 0.01 to 0.02 of that reported for sloshing in a
similar baffled tank (see Ref. 3 and Fig. 4). With no
baffles, the log decrement was almost constant as frequency
and amplitude varied; with baffles, however, it increased as
amplitude increased.
To compare these results with Bauer's model, the equations
of motion for the model in Fig. 1 are written with the restric-
tion that the mn are rigidly attached to the tank. The perti-
nent results are that the experimental value of 7i iq is
7 nq = 7 rig - {7d/ 2
1} (6)
and the experimental damping coefficient is
2
Ctest = Cd/[l ] (7)
Since the log decrement is d = 7rctest/co7iiq, Eqs. (6) and (7)
can be rearranged to yield
Id = 7 rig - 7 liq (<5/V) 2 [7 liq 2 /(7 rig - (8)
and
cd = co57J liq /[7r(7 rig -7 liq )] (9)
3
Because 6 was always on the order of 10 ~ , it can be seen
that for all practical purposes Id = 7rig — 7iiq. By compar-
ing this result with Eqs. (1) and (2), it can be concluded that
the coupling of the disk to the tank is so small for the values of
cd measured in our tests that any apparent variation of 7uq
with frequency cannot be predicted by the model. Thus,
simpler models, which do not employ the disk, appear to be
equally valid in predicting the moment response of the fluid.
This would probably also be the case in actual missile tanks,
since the viscosities of typical fuels are relatively low and
would give a relatively small value of cd.
References
1
Lukens, D. R., Schmitt, A. F., and Broucek, C. T., "Approxi-
mate transfer functions for a flexible booster and autopilot
analysis," Wright Air Development Div. TR-61-93 (April 1961).
2
Armstrong, G. L. and Kachigan, K., "Propellant sloshing/'
Handbook of Astronautical Engineering, edited by H. H. Koelle
(McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., New York, 1961), Sec. 14.14, 15.
3
Abramson, H. N., Chu, W. H., and Ransleben, G. E., Jr.,
"Representation of fuel sloshing in cylindrical tanks by an
 JANUARY 1966 ENGINEERING NOTES 155

equivalent mechanical model/5 ARS J. 31,1697-1705(1961). 1.00

4
Bauer, H. F., "Fluid oscillations in the containers of a space
vehicle and their influence on stability/' NASA TR-R-187
(February 1964).
5
Dodge, F. T. and Kana, D. D., "Moment of inertia and damp- 0.90
ing of liquids in baffled cylindrical tanks/' Tech. Rept. 11,
Contract NAS8-1555, Southwest Research Institute (June 1965).

- 0.80

0.70
Configuration Factors for Thermal
Radiation from Isothermal Inner Walls £0.60
of Cones and Cylinders "5
DARL D. BIEN* i 0.50
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NASA Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio

Nomenclature
0.40
A — surface area
d = diameter
F = configuration factor
h = height of frustum, perpendicular to base 0.30
Q = heat rejected by the radiating surface
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Ratio of surface height to major diameter,
r = radius
T = temperature of the radiating surface
Fig. 1 Variation of surface inside configuration factor
e = emissivity of the radiating surface
with geometry.
a — Stephan-Boltzmann constant
Subscripts
1,2,3 = surface designation (Fig. 1) Under the assumption of Lambert's cosine distribution, the
configuration factor becomes a function of geometry alone
and has limiting values of zero and unity.1
Introduction

T WO radiator configurations presently being considered

for the rejection of waste heat from space powerplants
are the cone and the cylinder. The shape of a launch vehicle
Frustum Configuration Factor
The amount of radiant energy transferred from surface
3 (Fig. 1) to space is given by
lends itself to such configurations, the nose of the rocket
conforming to the cone and the body to the cylinder. In ! F, s, (1)

certain applications, such radiators may be deployed, so that
the inner walls have a view of space limited primarily by the
geometry of the radiator itself. In such cases, the capability
of the inner walls to reject heat is of interest, and a method
of determining the effectiveness of this inner surface as a
radiator is required.
To determine the heat loss from any surface having a
limited view of space, it is common to develop a configuration
factor describing the fraction of total emission that escapes
to space. For simplicity of calculation, it is assumed that
the cylinder and the cone are isothermal black-body radiators.
These assumptions lead to an idealization of the actual fin-
and-tube space radiator. No attempt is made in this paper
to apply the configuration factors developed to nonisothermal
surfaces.
The approach used herein begins with the known con-
figuration factor for two parallel circular disks whose centers
are on a common line normal to their planes. By means of
configuration factor algebra, the factor for cones and cylinders
is expressible in terms of this known factor for two parallel
disks. This approach leads to an average factor for the en-
tire surface under consideration.
Definition
The configuration factor for radiation from surface a to sur-
face b, written Fa.b, is defined as the fraction of total radiant
energy leaving surface a that is intercepted by surface 6.
Received July 2, 1965.
* Aerospace Engineer, Systems Analysis Section, Space
Power System Division.
A determination of the configuration factor ^3_space is there-
fore necessary to ascertain the amount of heat rejected by
the radiating surface.
The fraction of total radiant energy leaving the inner sur-
face of the frustum of a cone that reaches space is also de-
sirable. Through reference to Fig. 1, it is seen that all radi-
ation leaving surface 3 and reaching space must go through
the imaginary surfaces designated 1 and 2. That is,
^3-s (2)
where surface 1 is an imaginary circular disk placed in the
smaller end of the frustum of a cone, surface 2 is an imaginary
circular disk placed in the larger end of the frustum, and
surface 3 is the inner wall of the frustum of a cone.
Configuration factor algebra enables one to express F^.i and
ft-2 in terms of the known factor between parallel disks
Fi_2. Under the postulation of identical distribution func-
tions (in this case, Lambert's distribution) for each of the
three surfaces, the reciprocity theorem holds, and
A3 Fz-i = A, F^ (3)
But Fig. 1 shows that
i-2 ' (4)
By use of Eq. (4) in Eq. (3),
F8-i = (A,/ A3) (I - Fi-2) (5)
When FS-Z is considered, the reciprocity theorem yields
As FS-, = A2 F2_3 (6)