Algorithm for Measurement and Analysis of Particle Shape

Abstract

Profile data for solid particles were automatically measured by a x, y-direction scanning device. The data of several fundamental figures were simulated by the digital computer. The perimeter length, area, unrolled diameter, Feret's diameter and Fourier coefficients of the profile line were determined from those data. The procedure of data treatment consisted of border following, smoothing, interpolation and so on. The error of those geometric quantities depended on the intervals of the scanning line and some kinds of data treatment algorithms.
For the periphery diameter, the accuracy (difference between computed and true values) was 1.00±0.04 and the precision (reappearency) was 1.00±0.02 when the number of divisions was about 100. For the area, unrolled and Feret's diameters, the error was 1% under the same conditions. A series of Fourier coefficients of a profile line or a particular group of them could be adopted as shape indices.