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Despite knowing that particle shape plays a significant role in the dynamics of powder flow, most discrete element method (DEM) simulations utilize spherical particles. The reasons for using spheres are that (a) the contact detection scheme for spherical particles is simple, and (b) the contact force models for contacting spheres are well known (e.g. a Hertzian contact). Several schemes for modeling non-spherical particles have been proposed including those that involve polyhedra, ellipsoids, sphero-cylinders, and superquadrics. Perhaps the most common approach for modeling non-spherical particles, however, is using “glued spheres,” in which irregular particle shapes are produced by rigidly connecting individual, and possibly overlapping, spheres. The advantage of the glued-spheres approach is that even for complex particle shapes the simple spherical contact detection algorithm may be retained. Recent …