Case Study
Industrial Silo Engineering & CFD Flow Analysis
Structural + CFD EngineeringConfidential Details Removed
Problem / Requirement
A bulk materials handling facility required a new cylindrical silo for a cohesive granular product with a history of arching and rat-holing in similar installations. The structural design had to comply with EN 1991-4 (silo load actions) and EN 1993-1-6 (steel shell design), while a complementary CFD study of the air-assisted discharge system was needed to confirm the aeration pad layout would reliably break up material bridges and maintain mass-flow discharge.
Engineering Scope
Bulk material flow property assessment (bulk density, internal friction angle, wall friction) for hopper design
Bin pressure analysis per EN 1991-4 for symmetrical filling and eccentric discharge load cases
Conical hopper half-angle optimisation to ensure mass-flow rather than funnel-flow regime
Shell course thickness design per EN 1993-1-6 including meridional and circumferential buckling checks
Ring beam, skirt and column support design for foundation load transfer
Wind and seismic load analysis per EN 1991-1-4 and site-specific hazard data
CFD modelling of aeration pad discharge system using Euler-Euler multiphase approach
CFD parametric study — pad spacing, air pressure and pulsing frequency — to define optimum aeration scheme
Deliverables
EN 1991-4 Bin Pressure Calculation ReportHopper Flow Regime Analysis and Half-Angle Selection ReportSilo Shell Structural Design Calculation ReportWind and Seismic Load Analysis ReportCFD Simulation Report — Aeration Discharge SystemCFD Visualisation Pack (velocity vectors, particle trajectories, pressure contours)Aeration Pad Layout and Sizing RecommendationGeneral Arrangement Drawing — Silo Structure (Plan, Elevation & Hopper Detail)
Client Value Delivered
Mass-flow hopper geometry confirmed by analysis, eliminating the material bridging problem that had affected similar silos in the facility
CFD study identified optimum aeration pad spacing that reduced compressed air consumption by 30% versus the vendor's standard layout
EN 1991-4 eccentric discharge load case was found to govern shell thickness, preventing under-design that would have caused fatigue cracking
Integrated structural and CFD scope from a single engineering team reduced coordination effort for the client and shortened the overall design programme
Detailed foundation load report enabled the civil contractor to complete pile design concurrently with the silo detailing
Standards Referenced
EN 1991-4 (Silo Actions)EN 1993-1-6 (Shell Buckling)EN 1993-1-1 (Steel Design)EN 1991-1-4 (Wind Actions)EN 1998-1 (Seismic)ISO 11697 (bulk solids — silo loads)ASME MFC-14M (flow measurement reference)
Software Used
ANSYS Fluent 2024 R1 (CFD)ANSYS Mechanical 2024 R1 (structural FEA)STAAD.Pro CONNECT EditionAutoCAD 2024Microsoft Excel (bin pressure, flow property worksheets)
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