A Finite Difference Scheme for Solviug 2-Dimentional Airflow Equation of Grain Bins

A finite difference scheme based on control-volume formulation (CVF) is applied to solving the 2-d non-linear airflow equation of grain bin established by Brooker and Segerlind. Some techniques used to manipulate boundary conditions are studied. The scheme is validated by numerically solving Brooker' s model with constant resistant parameters, comparison with other research results shows the CVF scheme has the same accuracy as the Q4 element. Pressure values on six special points and contours computed with the scheme under inlet pressure of 250 Pa, 500 Pa and 750 Pa using Brooker' s experimental resistant parameters of corn are presented, which are compared with Brooker' s experimental results and the numerical results by Miketinac et al, showing a general consistency with a deviation of less than 3%.