Preliminary results of shaking-table tests on a full-scale flat-bottom manufactured steel silo filled with wheat

This paper presents the preliminary results of a series of shaking-table tests on a full-scale flat-bottom manufactured steel silo filled with a granular material. A 3.64 m-diameter 5.5 m-height cylindrical silo has been tested in fixed-base and isolated-base configurations. The isolators put between the table and the r.c. plate are Curved Surface Sliders friction pendulum devices. Mono-axial shaking-table tests have been performed using random signals, low-frequency sinusoidal inputs and earthquake records (both artificial and real). The results are relevant to: the identification of the basic dynamic properties (frequency, damping ratio, amplification) of the grain-silo system, the experimental assessment of the static pressure (during filling phase) and seismic dynamic over-pressures and the effectiveness of the isolation system at the base of the silo.