Abstract: The particle flow and packing is an important issue in engineering. In this paper, a series of experiments are designed to measure the physical parameters of particles, such as density, restitution coefficient, friction coefficient and stiffness coefficient. With the hoisting bucket of the blast furnace top in view, the flow behavior of mono-sized particles is simulated by discrete element method (DEM). Results show that the force distribution in the discrete particles is non-uniform, and the strong force chains are parallel to the surface of the left inferior part of the hoisting bucket. A hoisting bucket experimental model with adjusting devices is established for experiments. It is shown that experimental results agree well with DEM results.