Mechanical Behavior of Silo Foundation Slab

Abstract

Silo bottom slab on elastic foundation subgrade was investigated by using finite plate bending element method to determine its behavior and its interaction in resisting forces under various design loading conditions. The analysis demonstrated how the effect of plate rigidity and foundation stiffness control the distribution of stresses and hence the mechanical behavior of slab. Also, analyzed idealized individual regions of the whole slab gave almost same values of sectional forces at corresponding points. Conventional design estimation method cannot directly determine moments induced in slab supported continuously on the ground, and as such suitable edge conditions is normally assumed around the outer edge of slab to facilitate computations. The analytical method overcome this problem, and in this study the design moment was found to be about ten times that of the analytical method.