ABSTRACT
Silos are essential for sectors such as agriculture, industry, and mining in Brazil, but they are structures with a high degree of complexity in relation to pressure determination. Therefore, new researches on the influence of the product stored in their structure are stimulated. For granular materials, the K coefficient is the factor obtained between the horizontal and the vertical pressure. This study aimed to develop a test device capable of calculating this coefficient based on the recommendations of EN 1991-4 (2006)EN 1991-4 (2006) Eurocode 1. Basis of design and actions on structures e Part 4: Actions in silos and tanks. Rue de Stassart 36, B-1050 Brussels: European Committee for Standardization. Central Secretariat. (Eurocode 1: Actions on structures – Part 4: Silos and tanks). For that, two cylinders of different heights were elaborated to study the influence of the device height in obtaining K coefficient. The results were measured by strain gauges and load cell connected to a data acquisition system. A vertical pressure was applied to the equipment, which responded with values of deformation correlated to the horizontal pressure. The values of K coefficient for corn were found and compared with those from the literature, concluding that the equipment could be used for the proposed purpose.
KEYWORDS
K coefficient; granular materials; silos
