A simplified model to simulate the elastic behavior of cylindrical steel silos filled with granular-like material

The paper presents a simplified model for simulating the elastic behavior of cylindrical ground-supported steel silos containing granular-like material. The idea is to reproduce the elastic parameters of this silo typology through a simple three-degree-of-freedoms (3-DOFs) model. To this aim, analytical rules and equations for defining mass and stiffness of the model were defined, accounting for different service conditions, i.e., filling levels of 0%, 30%, 60%, 90%, and for different geometries, i.e., very slender, slender, boundary, intermediate squat, squat. The outcomes were first evaluated in terms of natural frequencies, and then in terms of horizontal (or normal) and vertical (or frictional) static pressures, according to the current European code provisions. The outcomes were calibrated on overdetailed finite element models, reproducing analogous silos with the related geometries and service conditions. Preliminary results provide the opportunity to further improve the proposed simplified model, especially in a view of predicting the nonlinear behavior of cylindrical steel silos and the most likely buckling failure modes under seismic actions.