  Responding to a lack in the literature, mechanical properties of polygonal
wood particles are determined for use in a discrete element model (DEM) for
flow analysis in silos, and some methods are proposed for determining such
parameters. The parameters arrived at here have also formed part of the input
to the SPOLY software, developed in-house to compute the DEM model with
spheropolyhedron elements. The model is validated using a 2D physical model,
where prismatic particles with polygonal cross sections are placed inside a
silo with variable aperture and hopper angle. Validation includes comparison of
flow-rates computed by SPOLY, displacement profiles, and clogging thresholds
with experimental results. The good agreement that emerges will encourage
future use of miniature triaxial tests, grain-surface profilometry, inclined
slope tests, and numerical analysis of the intragranular stresses - toward a
direct construction of the contact-deformation relations required in realistic
DEM modelling of particle flow with angular-shaped particles.
