Liquid Sloshing in a Spherical Container at Low-Gravity Environments : 1st Report, Static Configuration of Liquid Surface

Abstract

As a preliminary step of the analysis of the liquid sloshing in a spherical container at low-gravity environments, the static configuration of a liquid surface is determined by the equilibrium condition under surface tension and gravitational force. The differential equation governing the liquid surface equilibrium is derived by utilizing the principle of virtual work instead of direct use of Young-Laplace equation. Numerical procedure for solving the differential equation is presented and the influence of the Bond number on the numerical results is investigated.