To solve the problem of influencing mechanism of operating efficiency of different cutter structures,based on discrete element method (DEM),the factors on efficiency of reamer are investigated for different installation designs of reamer,i.e.cone reamer and crown reamer.According to the recorded data from engineering ships,the model of general reamer head is built in system of YADE which is a discrete element software,and the reliability of numerical simulation is verified as well.3D models of new taper reamer and new crown reamer are established with the help of optimizations of the available reamer heads,and then the soil cutting processes between the two types of cutter heads are compared in different working conditions.The results show that the mining efficiency of cone reamer is better than that of crown reamer in the cutting process.