Evaluation of Normal Pressures during Filling in Steel Hoppers with Eccentric Outlet

Abstract

Filling pressures are a necessary starting point in the design of silos and hoppers. The hoppers with complicated geometries are common in industrial applications due to physical space constraints and the need to interface with other processing equipment. The current paper deals with the effect of outlet eccentricity on normal pressures formed in steel hoppers during distributed filling process. Using finite element method, progressive filling process in hoppers was simulated and by changing the percentage of outlet eccentricity, the variation of pressure distribution was fully studied. The results showed an increase in the normal pressures of shallow side compared with the steep side of eccentric hopper. To quantify the pressure asymmetry, two parameters were introduced and they were evaluated for practical range of material parameters and steel hoppers dimensions. The results obtained are of interest since they facilitate the design of silos and hoppers with eccentric outlet.