Recently Brazil has undergone agricultural growth that has forced several sectors to adjust their business structure to maintain competitiveness within the process of economic globalization. In this context, the poultry production has focused on new alternatives to increase productivity and reduce costs without affecting the quality of the final product. Among these alternatives, the use of vertical silos due to their capacity and ease of accurate feed ingredient rationing and eliminate large horizontal warehouses. The present research has focused on the stresses in rectangular, hopper bottom bins with a unique zigzag corrugation. The model bin was 2m x 1m with a hopper and the stresses obtained were compared to theories and standards. The stresses were estimated using Ravenet and Troitsky's simplified methods and compared to the experimental results. Strain gauges were used to obtain data on the stress within the bin walls. One concluded that either Ravenet or Troitsky's theory may be recommended for the design of rectangular silos since they provide a high level of accuracy compared to experimental values.
Pelletized soybean; stress; zigzag corrugation
