Qg. Meng et al., FINITE-ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF BULK SOLIDS FLOW .2. APPLICATION TO A PARAMETRIC STUDY, Journal of agricultural engineering research, 67(2), 1997, pp. 151-159
Silos and bins are used in most process industries for the storage and
handling of bulk solids. This paper deals with the application of a s
ecant constitutive relationship for bulk solids in a transient finite
element analysis of stresses, displacements and velocities during disc
harge of soybean from a silo. The object is to illustrate the use of t
he analysis procedure in a limited parametric study. The results in th
is paper are normal bin wall pressures, principal stresses in the stor
ed material, soybean, and the spread of plasticity through the continu
um. It is shown that the friction between wall and soybean and the hop
per opening have a significant effect on normal wall pressures. It was
found that in the hopper they increase considerably beyond the static
ones in the first few seconds of flow, before decreasing as the level
of the material falls. It was also found that the normal wall pressur
es in the vertical part of the bin increased very little during discha
rge. (C) 1997 Silsoe Research Institute.