Stability analyses of a cylindrical steel silo with corrugated sheets and columns

Abstract

The paper presents comprehensive quasi-static stability analysis results for a real funnel-flow cylindrical steel silo composed of horizontally corrugated sheets strengthened by vertical thin-walled column profiles. Linear buckling and non-linear analyses with geometric and material non-linearity were carried out with a perfect and an imperfect silo by taking into account axisymmetric and non-Axisymmetric loads imposed by a bulk solid following Eurocode 1. Finite element simulations were carried out with 3 different numerical models (single column on the elastic foundation, 3D silo model with the equivalent orthotropic shell and full 3D silo model with shell elements). Initial imperfections in the form of a first eigen-mode for different wall loads and from 'in-situ' measurements with horizontal different amplitudes were taken into account. The results were compared with Eurocode 3. Some recommendations for the silo dimensioning were elaborated.