Structural Design of Iron Ore Train Load Out Bin

Abstract

Currently it is a common practice in Australia to use AS 4100 and AS 3990 to design Train Load Out (TLO) bins. However these standards have not been developed for design of such thin shell structures. It is proposed that EN 1993-1-6 be used to design thin shell structures. This paper describes a structural design process of iron ore TLO bin, including the loading consideration, properties of iron ore materials as described in AS3774, and design criteria. A design process flow diagram is created by incorporating the necessary steps of designing the bin as thin shell, and checking the failure criteria which are the yielding and buckling of the bin and its supporting structure. TLO bin is also known to suffer excessive vibration during material discharge, called silo quaking, which needs to be taken into account in the design. A design recommendation is provided on how the effect of silo quaking can be minimised.