Development of a new dem contact model for hygroscopic bulk solids

In this work, a contact model for the simulation of crystalline solid-bridges in discrete element method (DEM) programmes is presented and compared with previous so-called bond models. The aim of the contact model is a generally valid calibration covering all states of a hygroscopic bulk material in a silo. The developed simulation model is verified by qualitative sensitivity analysis. Furthermore, a procedure for easy calibration of the required model parameters is proposed.