Development of normal pressure and frictional traction along the walls of a steep conical hopper during filling

The filling process of particulate solids in silos presents a numerical challenge in finite element analysis because of the addition of unstressed material on top of stressed material. A novel progressive filling approach is adopted in this paper to represent the filling process. It was used here to explore the development of the pressure pattern on the wall of a steep axisymmetric conical hopper during the filling process. The loads are interpreted as normal pressure and frictional traction. The results are compared with those from an analysis that used the conventional ‘switched-on gravity’ filling. The results of both analyses are then compared with calculations based on classical theories for the pressures acting on the wall of a steep hopper. The close agreement found between the different treatments indicates that the chosen progressive filling numerical strategy is useful for applications where analytical solutions are limited.

► A filling process of particulate solids into silos presents a numerical challenge in FEM.
► A FEM progressive filling is devised to represent particulate solids filling process.
► Progressive filling FEM was used to explore loads developed along wall of a steep hopper.
► Progressive filling FEM is useful for applications where analytical solutions are limited.