Monitoring bulk material pressure on bottom of storage using DEM

Abstract

This article focuses on the experimental verification of a mathematical derivation of Janssen’s theory, which describes the distribution of pressures within the bulk material and pressure distribution on the walls of storage facilities. The experimental verification is performed in two ways. The first is the real measurement of the load transfer in a bulk material cylinder and the second is similar to the detection of the load transfer through simulations using the DEM method. The aim is to compare the results of the theoretical calculation according to Janssen’s theory with the real measurement and a simulation of exactly the same model situation. At the beginning of any design or optimisation of existing transport or storage facilities, the most important is the analysis of the bulk material in the form of measurements of mechanical-physical properties. The analysis methods used are also described here. The pressure at the bottom of a storage container between the methods used showed negligible differences. From this finding, it can be concluded that the DEM method is a very suitable means for verifying the design of transport and storage facilities. The simulations provide important information and insights that can also be used to optimise existing transport or storage facilities.

Monitoring of the Discharge Process of Bulk Material in Silos Using Electrical Capacitance Tomography

“…This measuring stand assembly is subject to industrial legal protection in the form of a Czech patent. This patent, the validation storage device for measuring flow processes of bulk material using the ECT method, is kept at the Industrial Property Office of the Czech Republic under application number 2014‐902 . The basic principle of measurement of the ECT was simplified for the purposes of this article.…”

Study on the Macro-Fine Mechanical Behavior of Ore Flow Based on the Discrete Element Method

“…Pacheco-Martinez et al [19] studied the flow characteristics of the ore-rock particles inside the silos under different vibration frequencies and believed that the tangential motion of the silo wall effectively contained the formation of the Janssen effect. Using physical experiments and DEM numerical simulations, David Žurovec et al [20] experimentally validated the mathematical derivation of Janssen's theory, providing important information and insights for the design of storage facilities. Considering the problem of the static packing assumption of the Janssen model, Windows-Yule et al [21] explored the stress redistribution of particles in a container with a laterally moving sidewall, and extended and improved the model for characterizing the constrained dynamic system.…”