Nonlinear reduced-order model for vertical sloshing by employing neural networks

The aim of this work is to provide a reduced-order model to describe the dissipative behavior of nonlinear vertical sloshing involving Rayleigh–Taylor instability by means of a feed forward neural network. A 1-degree-of-freedom system is taken into account as representative of fluid–structure interaction problem. Sloshing has been replaced by an equivalent mechanical model, namely a boxed-in bouncing ball with parameters suitably tuned with performed experiments. A large data set, consisting of a long simulation of the bouncing ball model with pseudo-periodic motion of the boundary condition spanning different values of oscillation amplitude and frequency, is used to train the neural network. The obtained neural network model has been included in a Simulink® environment for closed-loop fluid–structure interaction simulations showing promising performances for perspective integration in complex structural system.