Liquid Slosh and Vehicle Stability

[erickxxx]

Hi,
I'm working on an invention that eliminates liquid slosh in partially filled liquid containers and allows for center of gravity control. I'm wondering if there is a market for such an apparatus where elimination of all slosh is needed.

I am aware of baffles, sponges, and diaphragms. A professional patent search was done and it seems that i may have something new.

I would appreciate your contributions :)

 

[aroc91]

Slosh research isn't terribly novel. I can't speak for reduction, but I do have something you could look into to investigate further. A team from the physics department of my alma mater did some research a few years ago with NASA characterizing propellent slosh in Orion service module propellent tanks.

http://www.carthage.edu/physics/opportunities/space-sciences/2010/index.php

“We built a scale model of one of these service module tanks to assess its behavior under microgravity when it’s at various levels of propellant. The fuel in microgravity sloshes around in strange ways that can be destabilizing to the spacecraft . We’ve lost spacecraft due to propellant slosh.”

Here's a thesis written on it last year that should have significantly more information. I haven't read through it, but it may make reference to slosh reduction techniques.

http://dspace.carthage.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/301/Bakkum_thesis_final.pdf?sequence=1

 

[erickxxx]

Slosh research isn't terribly novel. I can't speak for reduction, but I do have something you could look into to investigate further. A team from the physics department of my alma mater did some research a few years ago with NASA characterizing propellent slosh in Orion service module propellent tanks.

http://www.carthage.edu/physics/opportunities/space-sciences/2010/index.php



Here's a thesis written on it last year that should have significantly more information. I haven't read through it, but it may make reference to slosh reduction techniques.

http://dspace.carthage.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/301/Bakkum_thesis_final.pdf?sequence=1

Thank you. That was really helpful :)

 

[D H]

erickxxx, if you didn't already know about slosh in rockets, I suspect your invention may not be applicable to that field. Spacecraft slosh has been plaguing rocket and spacecraft manufacturers from the earliest days of launching things into space. It's a rather different world than the typical slosh problem. Launch is a high g event with extreme vibration and some rather noxious or extremely cold chemicals. After launch, when the vehicle stops thrusting, the remaining liquid turns into an other worldly foam that comes crashing down when thrust is applied.

If your invention does have direct applicability to rocketry, someone may well have already come up with that very idea and your patent lawyer would not have found it. A lot of ideas in the realm of rocketry is not patentable thanks to U.S. Code 35 § 181, "Secrecy of certain inventions and withholding of patent."

 

[erickxxx]

erickxxx, if you didn't already know about slosh in rockets, I suspect your invention may not be applicable to that field. Spacecraft slosh has been plaguing rocket and spacecraft manufacturers from the earliest days of launching things into space. It's a rather different world than the typical slosh problem. Launch is a high g event with extreme vibration and some rather noxious or extremely cold chemicals. After launch, when the vehicle stops thrusting, the remaining liquid turns into an other worldly foam that comes crashing down when thrust is applied.

If your invention does have direct applicability to rocketry, someone may well have already come up with that very idea and your patent lawyer would not have found it. A lot of ideas in the realm of rocketry is not patentable thanks to U.S. Code 35 § 181, "Secrecy of certain inventions and withholding of patent."

It can definitely be applied to rocketry. The risk of prior art is always present, I have found patents or publications about my previous ideas, but for this concept I've been actively searching for 6 months and haven't found anything like it, so I'm optimistic about its novelty.

Interesting that you mentioned the U.S. Code 35 § 181, because a slosh dampening utility patent for launch rockets has been granted to Lockheed Martin:
http://www.google.com/patents/US6283412