  We introduce two improvements in the numerical scheme to simulate collision
and slow shearing of irregular particles. First, we propose an alternative
approach based on simple relations to compute the frictional contact forces.
The approach improves efficiency and accuracy of the Discrete Element Method
(DEM) when modeling the dynamics of the granular packing. We determine the
proper upper limit for the integration step in the standard numerical scheme
using a wide range of material parameters. To this end, we study the kinetic
energy decay in a stress controlled test between two particles. Second, we show
that the usual way of defining the contact plane between two polygonal
particles is, in general, not unique which leads to discontinuities in the
direction of the contact plane while particles move. To solve this drawback, we
introduce an accurate definition for the contact plane based on the shape of
the overlap area between touching particles, which evolves continuously in
time.
