Performance analysis of steel grain silos

Steel silos are modern structures designed to store and protect grain and other granular materials. Silos differ from many other structures in that their design loads can affect almost the entire economic life of the structure and they are exposed to usage loads exceeding their own weight. It is thought that this study will fill a gap since there is no comprehensive source in Turkish for the design of steel tanks, which have different characteristic features and are widely used in our country as well as all over the world. The study, based on the Eurocode, which will have legal sanction for our country after the possible future membership of the European Union, is prepared in a specification format in which the design principles and design rules of steel silos in general and grain silos, which are more common than different types in particular, are presented. An attempt was made to explain the design method and philosophy, and then to increase the understandability of the subject with numerical examples. The analysis results show that cylindrical silos show lower stress and deformation, therefore they are more suitable and require less construction material. In addition, the geometry of cylindrical silos increases structural stability by distributing the pressure of the material inside them more evenly.