A Comparative Study of Uniaxial Flat‐Plate and Roller‐Based Calendering in Battery Electrode Manufacturing Using Discrete Element Modelling

Calendering is a key manufacturing step that strongly influences the microstructure and performance of battery electrodes, yet most simulations rely on flat‐plate compression that does not represent the industrial calendering processes that typically use rollers. This work develops a discrete element method (DEM) framework, enhanced with a Froude‐based scaling approach, to efficiently model roller calendering and directly compare it with flat plate compressions. It is shown that both methods capture key densification trends, including decreasing porosity and increasing tortuosity, along with increasing coordination number, contact area, and electronic conductivity during the calendering process. However, the roller configuration achieves comparable structural evolution at much lower pressures due to the combined normal‐shear stresses induced and smoother particle rearrangement. It is interesting to find out that the variation of conductivity with porosity follows a unified power‐law relationship with both methods, implying that transport is governed by microstructural densification rather than the loading path. The scaled DEM model with rollers offers a more realistic and computationally efficient approach for predicting practical calendering behaviour.