Yes. Augers are used all the time for this application, particularly in the top of trucks where chains might be hard to keep on the sprockets. ■

Sand will move in relation to the amount around it forming an artificial tube by itself around the auger.

Your explanation is really not all that clear: Are you in the initial design stages for a salt spreader where you want to use an auger to feed a spinner attached to the rear of the hopper?

The sand will eventually push against itself until it can no longer push it and either kick out the hydraulic relief valve or circuit breaker. ■

Ok,

So you want to move sand to the end of the containment with the auger.

How big is the hopper?, what is the hopper used for are the most pertinent questions.

You need a reduction gear box to drive the auger and the auger needs two bearings fore and aft /front and back/ to support the auger not counting the bearings in the gear drive.

we do not even know the length, diameter, or height of the hopper in question yet!

Length times width times height= volume so if your auger is at the top of the hopper then it will move the sand closest to it until their is no more sand to move and it spills over the hopper or the relief valve or circuit breaker kicks out- what have you accomplished that a front end loader or back hoe bucket will not do?

If you have a grate over the hopper that will also interfere with capacity and sand movement to a point of zero efficiency essentially directing it untill iti stops ands spills over-then what?

are you going to be there to stop the auger or will you hav epaddle switches?

What are you using the sand for is the more pertinent question?

Hoppers are loaded by gravity via mechanical means of a conveyor belt or front end loader or backhoe bucket and either deliver material by gravity to a clam shell door or are open to a conveyor below at a transfer point.

Hoppers are loaded in the center to gain maximum capacity in the center of the cone of the pile.

If you really want an efficeint system you need an auger in a tube at the top of the hopper for its entire length but to gain maximum filling of the hopper the auger tube needs to operate in a circle from the center while it is filled from the center so essentially

this problem has no solution as the variables are not in place or known! ■

You need a 1/2 tube shell auger period! as the auger is stationary and it will only flop around like a dying fish.until it developes a pathway that is denser than the surrounding sand by compaction. Email me off the board and I will help you if you would like me to. lzaharis@lightlink.com ■

A conventional screw will form a ridge fill that is level along the screw axis and only slightly higher than the underside of the screw flights. The ridge will be biased to one side of the screw according to the cross sectional fill during transfer as the sand will form a natural trough to suit the containment neccessary for the contents to move forward. The repose condition of the sand will depend mainly on moisture content, but if wet could be relatively steep.

A more efficient fill system is to employ intermittent flights that require the screw to push material forward across the gaps so that there are regular peaks in the loading level along the axis of the screw. The average level is thereby increased by about half the diameter of the screw. This duty requires a little more power, depending how greedy the designer is for capacity in setting the flight pitch and spacing of the gaps.

A further option is to incorporate a pivoting facility so that the screw has a fixed inlet position but can traverse across the back end to produce a triangular plateau. Starting at one side, the screw is fitted with a level probe at the tail end to trigger transverse movement to a clear position at the required fill level. Combined with the intermittent flight construction, a vessel can be filled up to the roof over much of the cross section. ■

What are technical characteristics? ■