Conical Shells with Discontinuities in Geometry

An analytical solution, based on the flexibility method, is developed to design and analyze open, conical, metal shells having segments of different thicknesses. The shell is used typically as a hopper, which is rigidly attached to the lower end of a concrete silo and is subjected to pressure loading and self-weight. A computer program, based on the analytical solution, is written to facilitate the design and analysis of the shell. The results of several specific problems show that it is always feasible to use segments of decreasing thickness for the metal hopper of concrete silos to save materials without adding stiffening members at the geometrical discontinuity junction.