Flow Characteristics of Grains in a Conical Silo with a Central Decompression Tube Based on Experiments and DEM Simulations
- Huinan Sun1,*, Siqiang Wang2, Zhuoqing Zhang1, Chaoyong Xia1, Xu Chen1
1
COFCO Research & Engineering (Zhengzhou) Co., Ltd., Zhengzhou, 450001, China
2 State Key Laboratory of Structural Analysis for Industrial Equipment, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116023, China
* Corresponding Author: Huinan Sun. Email:
(This article belongs to this Special Issue: Computational Mechanics of Granular Materials and its Engineering Applications)
2 State Key Laboratory of Structural Analysis for Industrial Equipment, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, 116023, China
* Corresponding Author: Huinan Sun. Email:
(This article belongs to this Special Issue: Computational Mechanics of Granular Materials and its Engineering Applications)
Received 31 January 2021; Accepted 25 February 2021; Issue published 24 May 2021
Abstract
Grains are widely present in industrial productions and processing, and are stored in silos. In the silo, auxiliary
structures are added to achieve efficient production. However, little effort has been devoted to the influence of
the internal structure of the silo on the granular flow. In this work, a silo with a central decompression tube is
studied through experimental measurements and discrete element methods. Then, the influences of the central
decompression tube on the flow behavior of grains and wall pressure are analyzed. Results show that the grains are
in mass flow in the silo without a central decompression tube, while the grains are in funnel flow in the silo with a
central decompression tube. Moreover, regardless of whether there is a central decompression tube in the silo, the
maximum pressure appears at the top of the conical silo. In the lower part of the silo, the wall pressure of the silo
with a central decompression tube is lower than that of the silo without a central decompression tube. Therefore,
a silo with a central decompression tube is more conducive to grain storage and discharge than a silo without a
central decompression tube.
Keywords
Discrete element method; experimental measurements; central decompression tube; flow characteristics; wall pressure
Cite This Article
Sun, H., Wang, S., Zhang, Z., Xia, C., Chen, X. (2021). Flow Characteristics of Grains in a Conical Silo with a Central Decompression Tube Based on Experiments and DEM Simulations. CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, 127(3), 855–873.
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