This paper is concerned with the estimation of contact stress between a rolling circular plate and powder. Uniaxial compression tests of limestone powder are carried out to investigate the effect of particle size on the compressive stress. During the compression of powder by a rolling circular plate, the inner stress of the plate is analyzed using the two-dimensional boundary element method and photoelastic analysis. Calculated values, which are evaluated under the assumption that shearing deformation of the powder does not take place under compression, display good agreement with the experimental resusts on the inner stress of the rolling circular plate.