Modified Janssen Theory for Flexible Circular Bins

Abstract

The classic Janssen theory takes no consideration of the interaction between the stored material pressure and the wall deformation, and thus may give poor prediction of pressures in flexible bins. Based on the following two assumptions: (1) The vertical pressure in the stored material is uniformly distributed at the same depth; and (2) the stresses in bin walls can be modelled by the membrane theory, a modified Janssen theory has been developed, which can not only take account of the wall flexibility, but also preserve the simplicity of the original theory. It is shown that the wall flexibility can be represented by a nondimensional parameter α=