Numerical modeling of silo filling. I: Continuum analyses

Two main computational methods have been used in recent years to model the behavior of particulate solids in silos. These are the finite element metho d and the discrete element method. To assess the current state of the art i n the two methods applied to silo problems, and to evaluate their capabilit ies without bias, an international collaborative project was set up to comp are predictions of several silo phenomena. The first of these computational challenges was deemed the simplest: that of filling a silo or container wi th particulate solid. This paper presents an overview of the findings of th is first problem, based on a total of 38 independent calculations. Here the collaborative project is briefly outlined and some deduced outcomes from c alculations by continuum analysts are compared. The results of discrete ele ment calculations are described in a companion paper, which also compares t he two methods and comments on their strengths and weaknesses.