Bulk Solids Stacking Strategy of a Rectangular Ship Cabin

Stacking of bulk solids in terminals, ships, trains, and other bulk solids storage yards is always challenging, considering the requirements of optimal utilization of storage areas. In this study, stacking shapes of a variety of bulk solids with different particle sizes were tested, and the curved shapes of the stockpiles were extracted to establish the actual three-dimensional models of the bulk solids accordingly. The three-dimensional curved stockpiles were used to design the bulk solids stacking strategy where the bulk stacking locations, the stacking volume, and the stacking flatness were optimized. A modified golden section method with a self-influenced factor was developed to improve the calculation efficiency of the stacking algorithm for bulk solids stacking flatness. Furthermore, the bulk solids stacking strategy and algorithm were verified by experiments. The results showed that the curved three-dimensional models were very close to the actual shapes of the bulk solids stockpiles, while the improved golden section method was more accurate and efficient than the traditional golden section method in determining the optimal values of the stacking volumes in terms of flatness. For the different bulk solids tested, the experiment results showed that good flat stacking can be achieved by using the developed stacking strategy.