ABSTRACT
As a result of the high failure rate in silo structures, great effort has been made in recent decades to gain a better understanding of silo pressures and flow phenomena. Nevertheless considerable uncertainty still exists concern ing the pressures to which the silo structure is subjected. Up to now, in most countries the wall pressures in silos are calculated by means of the same analytical solution which was established by Janssen nearly 100 years ago. Due to its basic assumption and also its incompleteness, this simple model as well as most other analytical models published in the past are sufficient for the analysis of simple geometrical shapes and the bulk material at rest conditions. However, silo designers have to face up to more difficult situa tions due to silo geometry, complex behaviour of the bulk material and its interaction with the silo walls, the filling and discharging process or external actions.
