Author Description

The need for the survey described in this report arose from the concern of the structural engineering profession with the problems encountered in the design, construction, and operation of bins for mineral bulk solids. it is necessary to have a good profile of the types of bins that are being used and their design and performance characteristics in order to develop effective guidance to bin design as well as to establish priorities in bin research. This report describes information, collected by the survey, on the design and performance characteristics of both steel and concrete bins for mineral bulk solids. The surveyed characteristics included wall thickness, type of bulk solid stored, bin capacity, shape and dimension, outlet type and geometry, flow characteristics, and damage and problems in operation. Basic differences in design and performance characteristics of steel and concrete bins are revealed. The steel bins surveyed were usually elevated with low aspect ratios (0.5 to 1.5), while reinforced concrete bins were mostly on ground and of higher aspect ratios (1.5 to 3). Steel bins had more problems and suffered more damage than reinforced concrete bins. Flow was identified as the major problem in bins and reliability analysis is required to solve this problem.