Three-Dimensional Finite Element Analysis of Wall Pressure on Large Diameter Silos

Abstract

With the increasing volume demand of silos, silo diameters are bigger and bigger. However, present wall pressure computation methods are mostly based on small diameter silos. There is little system research on large diameter silos. To solve this problem, systematical research by three-dimensional finite element method on large diameter silos was carried out in this paper. Static wall pressure and wall pressure at the end of filling were analyzed. And the influence of mechanical parameters of bulk materials to wall pressure was studied. Two lamination ways to simulate filling process was studied. The result shows that scale of silo take important effect to wall pressure. Wall pressures at the end of filling of large diameter silos are much larger than static wall pressures near silos bottom. Wall pressure of filling should be considered in design of large diameter silos. Study in this paper has heavy theoretical significance and provide an important basis for the large diameter silo design.