Discharge and the Eccentricity of the Hopper Influence on the Silo Wall Pressures

The objective of this work is to perform an analysis of pressure distributions in grain silos for both the discharge and static conditions with eccentric outlets. To this end, the commercial ANSYS program, based on the finite-element method is employed. In this paper, results are presented for a silo with a height of 10.5 m (cylinder height 8 m, base cone height 2.5 m), a silo radius of 3 m, and an outlet radius of 0.5 m. Outlet eccentricity ranged from 0% (central outlet) to 100% (maximally eccentric outlet, tangential to the silo cylinder). Based on the results, this paper proposes new methods of analyzing silo discharge and the influence of outlet eccentricity. The discharge model combines both dilatancy and type of discharge effects. 3D models were developed to analyze the eccentricity of the outlet. The results are compared with previous research data and with standard design guidelines.