Stability analysis of a multibody system model for coupled slosh–vehicle dynamics

The coupled slosh–vehicle dynamics of a rigid body in planar atmospheric flight carrying a sloshing liquid is considered as a multibody system with the sloshing motion modelled as a simple pendulum. The coupled, non-linear equations for the four-degree-of-freedom multibody system are derived using the method of Lagrangian dynamics. Careful non-dimensionalization reveals two crucial parameters that determine the extent of coupling between the rigid body and slosh modes, and also two important frequency parameters. Using a two-parameter continuation method, critical combinations of these four parameters for which the coupled slosh–vehicle dynamics can become unstable are computed. Results are displayed in the form of neutral stability curves (stability boundaries) in parameter space, and an analytical expression incorporating the four parameters that represents the neutral stability curves is obtained. Reduced-order linearized models and key transfer functions are derived in an effort to understand the instability phenomenon. Physically, the sloshing motion is seen to induce a static instability, sometimes called tumbling, in the vehicle pitch dynamics, depending on the slosh mass fraction and the location of the slosh pendulum hinge point above the rigid vehicle center of mass.