An investigation of the correlation between Hue and Rust Layer Thickness of Protective Rust on Weathering Steel: An OpenCV-based analysis

Abstract

This study aimed to advance maintenance technologies for weathering steel by quantitatively evaluating the relationship between the color of protective rust and the thickness of the rust layer using digital image analysis. Surfaces of protective rust removed from steel bridges were photographed, and color information was extracted by converting the images to the HSV color space with OpenCV. Correlations between the extracted color features and the measured rust thickness were then examined. The results suggest that, within our dataset, brightness (the V component) shows a certain degree of correlation with rust thickness.