Stresses in silos: Comparison between theoretical models and new experiments

TL;DR

This study provides precise pressure measurements in granular silos, revealing nonmonotonic behavior and challenging classical models, thereby advancing understanding of stress distribution in granular columns.

Contribution

It offers new experimental data that tests and refines theoretical models of stress in granular silos, highlighting limitations of classical approaches.

Findings

Pressure is linear in overload

Pressure is nonmonotonic with height

Results support local, linear stress relations

Abstract

We present precise and reproducible mean pressure measurements at the bottom of a cylindrical granular column. If a constant overload is added, the pressure is linear in overload and nonmonotonic in the column height. The results are {\em quantitatively} consistent with a local, linear relation between stress components, as was recently proposed by some of us. They contradict the simplest classical (Janssen) approximation, and may pose a rather severe test of competing models.