Measurements of ambient temperature effect on wall pressures imposed by stored solids in silos

Earlier studies of silo pressures generally suggested that wall pressures would be symmetrical if the filling and discharging were both symmetrical. However more careful measurements showed that wall pressures can vary significantly around the circumference and can be unsymmetrical even in symmetrical silos which appear to be symmetrically filled and discharged. The loss of symmetry may be traced back to inhomogeneity and anisotropy developed in the initial packing during filling. An axisymmetrical silo is no guarantee to obtain an axi-symmetric discharging pattern. In some cases, even a minor disturbance of the flow pattern can cause a serious loss of symmetry in the wall pressures.