Estimation of minimum Cost of Circular Grain Silo

This study is an application of optimization method to the structural design of circular silo, considering the total cost of the silo as an objective function of the properties of the silo and stored materials (unit weight of stored materials, angle of inclination of hopper wall, height of silo, height of hopper and silo diameter), as a design variables. A computer program has been written to solve numerical examples using the ACI code equations and all new requirements and criteria in concrete design. It has been proved that the minimum total cost of the silo increases with the increase of the angle of internal friction between stored materials, the coefficient of friction between stored materials and concrete, and the number of columns supporting hopper.