Objectives and Programme
Overall Objectives
This is but the beginning of our MEng thesis and there remains a lot of work to do. What exact form this ‘work’ will take remains to be seen as things develop, but here are, at least, our closest goals:
- To build a finite element (FEA) model using ABAQUS of various different variants of a hopper and silo, using multiple geometries and eccentricities.
- To run this FEA model under a variety of load cases and boundary conditions in order to verify the equations derived for membrane theory.
- It is anticipated that the FEA will agree with membrane theory for 95% or so of the hopper height, for the remaining areas around the transition, we will have to explore bending theory in a lot more detail and derive equations from it. But this is a far more complex kettle of fish.
- To carryout a comprehensive comparison of cylindrical and elliptical silos and to develop proposals where elliptical silos have industrial advantage.
Finally, we hope that our research will contribute something to the understanding of eccentric silo behaviour, thus partially filling the present black hole in the complex world of silo and shell theory.
Programme top Δ
Following our web presentation on 01 November our M-Eng Thesis is 16% complete. This web presentation is one of six key deadlines / milestones which need to be adhered to:
| 01 November 2006 | Web Poster presentation |
| 12 January 2007 | Progress Report |
| 19 January 2007 | Project Review |
| 12 March 2007 | Theses Draft Submission |
| 18 April 2007 | Theses Submission |
| 16 May 2007 | Oral Examination |
A detailed programme is available here in pdf format.
