The Study of the Impact of Displacing Insert in Flat-Bottomed Silo

Abstract

In this paper, we developed a mathematical model to study silo structure design of flat-bottomed silo for storing soybeans. The model bases on both conservative linear momentum and conservative angular momentum. The Discrete Element Technique is used to obtain the numerical solutions for studying how insert, installed in silo, affects the flow pattern, the velocity profile and the wall pressure in silo. The results indicated that the inverted cone insert influences flow pattern of soybean in silo. The simulation reveals that the appropriately position of the insert in a flat bottom silo can improve the flow pattern from funnel flow to mass flow. Moreover, the wall pressure and dead zone decrease when the insert is installed. The knowledge has led to the effective design of flat-bottomed silo with insert.