Application of linear buckling sensitivity analysis to economic design of cylindrical steel silos composed of corrugated sheets and columns

摘要

The paper deals with global stability of steel cylindrical silos composed of corrugated walls and vertical columns with loads imposed by a bulk solid following Eurocode 1. The optimum silo design with respect to the steel weight was based on a sensitivity analysis method. The changes of silo column profiles at each design step were performed by means of influence lines for the buckling load factor due to the unit column bending stiffness variation. The corrugated walls were simulated as an equivalent orthotropic shell and vertical thin-walled columns as beam elements. The results were compared with the Eurocode 3 approach and verified by FE results of linear buckling and non-linear analyses with geometric non-linearity carried out with the commercial finite element code ABAQUS for a 3D shell model of a perfect silo. The proposed procedure allowed for a rational silo design with an economic material use. Some recommendations for the silo optimum design were elaborated. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.