Technical concept to prevent the silo honking

During emptying of tall cylindrical silos made of aluminium, the phenomenon of the silo honking is often created. The silo honking appears in the form of an annoying noise connected to strong vibrations of silo walls. Full-sc ale experiments in aluminium silos containing polymer granulates were perfo rmed to investigate this phenomenon. During experiments, accelerations and deformations of the wall, and sound pressures inside and outside the silo w ere measured. A reliable, practical method to completely suppress the silo honking and to significantly reduce dynamic pulsations during silo emptying was proposed and described in detail. The method was verified with model e xperiments and full-scale tests. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.