Normal pressures and frictional tractions on shallow conical hopper walls after concentric filling: Predictions and experiments

Author's version of an article in the journal: Chemical Engineering Science. Also available from the publisher at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ces.2012.11.028 A silo with a shallow hopper is designed to achieve the required silo capacity when the headroom available is limited, provided that the issue of segregation of stored particulate solids is not a problem. Several analytical models have been proposed to try to predict the design loads for such shallow silo hoppers to guarantee their structural integrity. In this study, a novel finite element analysis has been conducted to explore the development of pressures and tractions on the wall of a full scale shallow hopper when it is filled wit…