Since the beginning of the 20th century, due to its durability, various steel silos have been widely used in the grain industry. Although they are strong steel structures, they will lose strength and eventually be damaged if they are used and maintained improperly.

The main reason for the destruction of steel silo is improper use and improper maintenance. Regular inspection of steel silo and the use of correct entry and exit technology can extend the service life of several years.

The steel granary has a thin shell structure. To maintain its shape and structure, its sidewalls must be evenly loaded. In view of the fact that the side walls and bottom of the steel silo carry loads of tons of stored grain, the silo foundation must be properly designed and maintained.

1Regular maintenance inspection

For regular maintenance and inspection of steel silo, the basic parts should be checked first.

The foundation must be strong enough to support the stored grain load and prevent the empty silo from dumping or tearing by the wind. Therefore, the storage base must not show symptoms such as uneven settlement, large cracks (Figure 1), broken concrete, failure or looseness of anchor bolts. There should be a waterproof seal between the bottom surface of the warehouse body and the foundation.

Regular maintenance and inspection of steel silo should also include checking whether the silo body shows abnormal conditions such as stiffening bar bending, steel plate bulging, bolt looseness and overall abnormal shape. Sometimes it is even found that the warehouse body is tilted.

Figure 1 Such cracks in the steel silo foundation must reduce the steel silo to support grain storage Load capacity is easy to cause wind damage when the warehouse is empty

If these symptoms occur, it must be determined whether the steel silo structure is strong. It should be pointed out that some steel plates, especially some steel plates in the middle of the warehouse body, show mild bulging, which is a normal working condition. However, excessive bulging is a sign that the corrugated steel sheet is about to be destroyed by abnormal wrinkles (Figure 2)

Figure 2 The vertical cracks on the silo wall must be repaired immediately to avoid grain leakage