Simulation of meso-mechanism of silo unloading grain aching based on improved particle composition mechanical model

The silo has the advantages of small area, good sealing conditions, low circulation costs, low cost and etc. It is currently the leading warehouse type of grain storage in China. Most silos still use gravity-based discharging methods, however, arches often form during silo discharging, it causes the pressure that should have been taken from the bottom of the warehouse to the wall of the warehouse. As a result, cracks may form in the silo walls causing serious damage. In addition, when there are workers above the grain surface or when the arch is manually broken, the collapse of the arch will not only result in personal injury or death of the grain surface staff, but also may damage the warehouse structure and facilities in the warehouse. In recent years, with the development of building technology, the silo volume has been continuously increasing, the diameter and height of the silo have also become larger and larger, and the related accidents caused by unloading and arching silos have also become more frequent Silo arch accidents in Daqing 2013, Lanxi 2015, in Heilongjiang province, and in Jing County in 2016 in Anhui province, for example, have resulted in the destruction of some silo facilities and casualties. Existing studies have shown that silo unloading and arching are closely related to the internal and external friction of grain. However, in those studies, a single circular particle is used in the current discrete element simulation. The real contact area of simulated grain is much smaller. As such, the simulation cannot objectively reflect the grain of the unloading process. The frictional situation is also more difficult to restore the mesoscopic dynamic process of unloading grain arching. In this paper, based on the existing PFC3D discrete element program, the micro particle simulation dust with larger viscosity coefficient was added to create an improved particle for the defect that the internal friction force of the circular particle in the discrete element simulation was smaller than that in the real grain. We used geometric methods in the structural mechanics model to determine the contact between the circular particles and derives the force-displacement relationship between the basic units. Based on typical accident cases and laboratory test results, the established particle structure mechanics model was used to simulate the force-displacement relationship between circular large particles and between small round particles and walls in the dynamic process of unloading grain and arching. The displacement map of shear stress and its stress characteristic curve were basically consistent with the experimental results. By using this model, the dynamic meso-mechanism of unloading and arching silos can be objectively reflected. The improved particle structure mechanics model proposed in this paper can not only be used to simulate the unloading and arching mechanism simulation, but also has certain reference value for the simulation of the characteristics of loose particles flow and the mechanism of the interaction between the bulk and the silo wall.