Automated Determination of the Distribution of Local Void Ratio from Digital Images
- 1 June 1996
- journal article
- other
- Published by ASTM International in Geotechnical Testing Journal
- Vol. 19 (2), 107-117
- https://doi.org/10.1520/gtj10334j
Abstract
The frequency distribution of local void ratio is believed to be an important parameter, in addition to the void ratio, for describing the mechanical behavior of granular materials. Oda proposed a method to determine experimentally the distribution of local void ratio from 2-D plane sections. To date, implementations of Oda's method have depended to varying extents on operator judgment to form polygons by joining the centers of gravity of all particles that surround a void. Furthermore, the studies have involved a significant amount of manual work in making the required measurements. This paper describes a fully automated implementation of the method, which uses high-level, image-processing techniques. The proposed method eliminates operator judgment and manual work and makes the determination of the distribution of local void ratio from 2-D plane sections both repeatable and efficient. The method is illustrated with measurements performed on synthetic and real images. The importance of correcting the images to account for factors such as thickness of segmentation lines is demonstrated. Measurements that confirm the stability of the proposed polygon network generation procedure are also presented.Keywords
This publication has 9 references indexed in Scilit:
- Uniformity Evaluation of Cohesionless Specimens Using Digital Image AnalysisJournal of Geotechnical Engineering, 1996
- Microscopic Measurement of Sand Fabric from Cyclic Tests Causing LiquefactionGeotechnical Testing Journal, 1991
- Quantification of Particle Shape and Angularity Using the Image AnalyzerGeotechnical Testing Journal, 1991
- Frequency Distribution of Void Ratio of Granular Materials Determined by an Image AnalyzerSoils and Foundations, 1990
- Size distribution of granular materials from unthresholded imagesJournal of Microscopy, 1989
- Determination of mineral phase percentages in granular rocks by image analysis on a microcomputerComputers & Geosciences, 1988
- Use of digital image analysis to estimate fluid permeability of porous materials: Application of two-point correlation functionsJournal of Applied Physics, 1986
- Systematic triangulationsComputer Vision, Graphics, and Image Processing, 1984
- Initial Fabrics and their Relations to Mechanical Properties of Granular MaterialSoils and Foundations, 1972