Bins discharge limited by elastic gates

ESIME Azcapotzalco, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, 02460 Azcapotzalco, México

^* Corresponding author: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Published online: 1 December 2025

Abstract

For circular orifices of diameter D, located at the bottom of silos, the gravity-driven mass flow rate, m’, of dry, non-cohesive granular material follows the Hagen formula given by m’∼D^5/2, which, to our knowledge, is independent of the granular pressure near the exit orifice. In this work, we report experiments in nearly two-dimensional bins where narrow rectangular elastic plates of small thickness were attached of known thickness h, length, l, and Young’s modulus, E, that can be deflected a distance ζ, by the granular pressure acting on the plate p_l. For this case, it was experimentally found that for this case, the mass flow rate is dependent upon all these quantities, but mainly on ζ, as a power law of the form m’∼ζ^5/2, whilst the pressure seems to behave as p_l∼1/l. Our analysis reveals the link between the flow rate and the local pressure, a feature that might find practical applications.