📋 Case Study

Iowa Corn Storage Silo Arching Remediation

Persistent funnel-flow arching in 12 silos during winter unloading, requiring manual probing

🏗️ Project Overview

Cooperative grain elevator with 24 concrete silos (25,000 bu each)

🎯 Challenge

Persistent funnel-flow arching in 12 silos during winter unloading, requiring manual probing

🔧 Design Approach

Retrofitted mass-flow liners (stainless steel + UHMW-PE); installed acoustic emission monitoring with AI-powered arch classification

📐 Design Diagram

AI-generated project design illustration

📐 Key Calculations

Janssen Wall Pressure

σ_v = γ × R/k × (1 − e^(−k×z/R))

Result: 48 kPa

Determines required liner strength

Arch Stability Index

ASI = tanφ_w / tanφ_i

Result: 1.37

ASI > 1.0 indicates likely arching

📊 Results

100% mass-flow achieved; manual probing eliminated; unloading time reduced by 37% per silo

💡 Lessons Learned

• •Wall friction angle (φ_w) must be measured—not assumed
• •Acoustic pattern recognition outperforms threshold-based alarms

✅ Key Takeaways

• 1Wall friction angle (φ_w) must be measured—not assumed
• 2Acoustic pattern recognition outperforms threshold-based alarms