Increasing demand has seen the requirement to accurately determine the gate loads of storage bins for the optimised design of the supporting structures and operation efficiency. The Australian Standard -AS3774 considers that gate loads are highly dependent on the degrees of bulk solids compressibility and gate structure rigidity and calculates gate loads in an empirical way. However, our previous experimental work has found that AS3774 overestimates the gate loads of a test bin operating with iron ore. In this study, the research is extended by using the DEM to describe the gate loads, in conjunction with the bin storage characteristics. The simulation results are compared to the experimental measurements and the theoretical predictions. It is suggested that the passive stress state may be partially ignited due to the deformation of the bulk solids and gate supports before discharge. (c) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.