Simulation of Fracture Process of Lightweight Aggregate Concrete Based on Digital Image Processing Technology

The mechanical properties and failure mechanism of lightweight aggregate concrete(LWAC)is a hot topic in the engineering field,and the relationship between its microstructure and macroscopic mechanical properties is also a frontier research topic in the academic field.In this study,the image processing technology is used to establish a micro-structure model of lightweight aggregate concrete.Through the information extraction and processing of the section image of actual light aggregate concrete specimens,the mesostructural model of light aggregate concrete with real aggregate characteristics is established.The numerical simulation of uniaxial tensile test,uniaxial compression test and three-point bending test of lightweight aggregate concrete are carried out using a new finite element method-the base force element method respectively.Firstly,the image processing technology is used to produce beam specimens,uniaxial compression specimens and uniaxial tensile specimens of light aggregate concrete,which can better simulate the aggregate shape and random distribution of real light aggregate concrete.Secondly,the three-point bending test is numerically simulated.Thirdly,the uniaxial compression specimen generated by image processing technology is numerically simulated.Fourth,the uniaxial tensile specimen generated by image processing technology is numerically simulated.The mechanical behavior and damage mode of the specimen during loading were analyzed.The results of numerical simulation are compared and analyzed with those of relevant experiments.The feasibility and correctness of the micromodel established in this study for analyzing the micromechanics of lightweight aggregate concrete materials are verified.Image processing technology has a broad application prospect in the field of concrete mesoscopic damage analysis.

Correlations between mineral composition and mechanical properties of granite using digital image processing and discrete element method

This study investigated the correlations between mechanical properties and mineralogy of granite using the digital image processing(DIP) and discrete element method(DEM). The results showed that the X-ray diffraction(XRD)-based DIP method effectively analyzed the mineral composition contents and spatial distributions of granite. During the particle flow code(PFC2D) model calibration phase, the numerical simulation exhibited that the uniaxial compressive strength(UCS) value, elastic modulus(E), and failure pattern of the granite specimen in the UCS test were comparable to the experiment. By establishing 351 sets of numerical models and exploring the impacts of mineral composition on the mechanical properties of granite, it indicated that there was no negative correlation between quartz and feldspar for UCS, tensile strength(σ_(t)), and E. In contrast, mica had a significant negative correlation for UCS, σ_(t), and E. The presence of quartz increased the brittleness of granite, whereas the presence of mica and feldspar increased its ductility in UCS and direct tensile strength(DTS) tests. Varying contents of major mineral compositions in granite showed minor influence on the number of cracks in both UCS and DTS tests.

Analysis of morphological characteristics of gravels based on digital image processing technology and self-organizing map

A comprehensive understanding of spatial distribution and clustering patterns of gravels is of great significance for ecological restoration and monitoring.However,traditional methods for studying gravels are low-efficiency and have many errors.This study researched the spatial distribution and cluster characteristics of gravels based on digital image processing technology combined with a self-organizing map(SOM)and multivariate statistical methods in the grassland of northern Tibetan Plateau.Moreover,the correlation of morphological parameters of gravels between different cluster groups and the environmental factors affecting gravel distribution were analyzed.The results showed that the morphological characteristics of gravels in northern region(cluster C)and southern region(cluster B)of the Tibetan Plateau were similar,with a low gravel coverage,small gravel diameter,and elongated shape.These regions were mainly distributed in high mountainous areas with large topographic relief.The central region(cluster A)has high coverage of gravels with a larger diameter,mainly distributed in high-altitude plains with smaller undulation.Principal component analysis(PCA)results showed that the gravel distribution of cluster A may be mainly affected by vegetation,while those in clusters B and C could be mainly affected by topography,climate,and soil.The study confirmed that the combination of digital image processing technology and SOM could effectively analyzed the spatial distribution characteristics of gravels,providing a new mode for gravel research.

Improvements of Traditional Laser Fraunhofer Diffraction Experiment Using Digital Image Processing Method

We present an improved digital image processing(DIP)method to calculate the widths of single slits.Different from the traditional laser Fraunhofer diffraction experiment in college physical experiments,by performing fast Fourier transform,inverse fast Fourier transform and the nonlinear leastsquare fitting on the diffraction pattern taken by a camera,the DIP method can quickly return an analytic expression,whose period is used to calculate widths of single slits.By comparing the measured results by the DIP method and the successional difference(SD)method,we find that for a single slit whose width is 60372μm,the DIP method is more accurate.Experimental results show that for single slits with widths between 40μm and 160μm,the relative error of the DIP method is less than 2.78%.Also,the DIP method can be used to measure the diameter of filament and fibres online in real time.

Automatic measurement of three-phase contact angles in pore throats based on digital images

With the help of digital image processing technology, an automatic measurement method for the three-phase contact angles in the pore throats of the microfluidic model was established using the microfluidic water flooding experiment videos as the data source. The results of the new method were verified through comparing with the manual measurement data.On this basis, the dynamic changes of the three-phase contact angles under flow conditions were clarified by the contact angles probability density curve and mean value change curve. The results show that, for water-wetting rocks, the mean value of the contact angles is acute angle during the early stage of the water flooding process, and it increases with the displacement time and becomes obtuse angle in the middle-late stage of displacement as the dominant force of oil phase gradually changes from viscous force to capillary force. The droplet flow in the remaining oil occurs in the central part of the pore throats, without three-phase contact angle. The contact angles for the porous flow and the columnar flow change slightly during the displacement and present as obtuse angles in view of mean values, which makes the remaining oil poorly movable and thus hard to be recovered. The mean value of the contact angle for the cluster flow tends to increase in the flooding process, which makes the remaining oil more difficult to be recovered. The contact angles for the membrane flow are mainly obtuse angles and reach the highest mean value in the late stage of displacement, which makes the remaining oil most difficult to be recovered. After displacement, the remaining oils under different flow regimes are just subjected to capillary force, with obtuse contact angles, and the wettability of the pore throat walls in the microfluidic model tends to be oil-wet under the action of crude oil.

Three-dimensional finite element simulation and reconstruction of jointed rock models using CT scanning and photogrammetry

The geometry of joints has a significant influence on the mechanical properties of rocks.To simplify the curved joint shapes in rocks,the joint shape is usually treated as straight lines or planes in most laboratory experiments and numerical simulations.In this study,the computerized tomography (CT) scanning and photogrammetry were employed to obtain the internal and surface joint structures of a limestone sample,respectively.To describe the joint geometry,the edge detection algorithms and a three-dimensional (3D) matrix mapping method were applied to reconstruct CT-based and photogrammetry-based jointed rock models.For comparison tests,the numerical uniaxial compression tests were conducted on an intact rock sample and a sample with a joint simplified to a plane using the parallel computing method.The results indicate that the mechanical characteristics and failure process of jointed rocks are significantly affected by the geometry of joints.The presence of joints reduces the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS),elastic modulus,and released acoustic emission (AE) energy of rocks by 37%–67%,21%–24%,and 52%–90%,respectively.Compared to the simplified joint sample,the proposed photogrammetry-based numerical model makes the most of the limited geometry information of joints.The UCS,accumulative released AE energy,and elastic modulus of the photogrammetry-based sample were found to be very close to those of the CT-based sample.The UCS value of the simplified joint sample (i.e.38.5 MPa) is much lower than that of the CT-based sample (i.e.72.3 MPa).Additionally,the accumulative released AE energy observed in the simplified joint sample is 3.899 times lower than that observed in the CT-based sample.CT scanning provides a reliable means to visualize the joints in rocks,which can be used to verify the reliability of photogrammetry techniques.The application of the photogrammetry-based sample enables detailed analysis for estimating the mechanical properties of jointed rocks.

Application of Digital Image Analysis Method in Metric Screw Thread Metrology

This paper describes the use of computer-aided measurement for external metric screw threads. Thread parameters, including thread pitch, thread angle, pitch diameter and major diameter, were measured with CCD cameras and image analysis software. New technologies such as digital image processing were used to increase the efficiency of measurements. In this study, by reconstructing the toolmaker’s microscope, the computer-aided semi-automated measuring system was developed, which could evaluate the accuracy of screw thread profile. It is concluded that the measurement accuracy is comparable to that of traditional toolmaker’s microscope method. Key words screw threads - quality inspection - accuracy - digital image processing

A convenient look-up-table based method for the compensation of non-linear error in digital fringe projection

Although the structured light system that uses digital fringe projection has been widely implemented in three-dimensional surface profile measurement, the measurement system is susceptible to non-linear error. In this work, we propose a convenient look-up-table-based （LUT-based） method to compensate for the non-linear error in captured fringe patterns. Without extra calibration, this LUT-based method completely utilizes the captured fringe pattern by recording the full-field differences. Then, a phase compensation map is established to revise the measured phase. Experimental results demonstrate that this method works effectively.

Wavelet-based gray-level digital image watermarking

The watermarking technique has been proposed as a method by hiding secret information into the image to protect the copyright of multimedia data. But most previous work focuses on the algorithms of embedding one dimensional watermarks or two dimensional binary digital watermarks. In this paper, a wavelet based method for embedding a gray level digital watermark into an image is proposed. By still image decomposition technique, a gray level digital watermark is decompounded into a series of bitplanes. By discrete wavelet transform ( DWT ), the host image is decomposed into multiresolution representations with hierarchical structure. The different bitplanes of the gray level watermark is embedded into the corresponding resolution of the decomposed host image. The experimental results show that the proposed techniques can successfully survive image processing operations and the lossy compression techniques such as Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG).

Optical/Digital Fringe Multiplication in Projection Moire

In this paper, the optical/digital fringe multiplication (O/DFM) is realized in projection moiré using digital image processing (DIP). Both deformed grating and reference grating are captured using a CCD camera. The reference grating can also be produced using DIP. With the O/DFM, the pattern is multiplied with an image processing software, which is developed using MATLAB 6.5. Also with DIP, the phase shifting can become much simpler, and the automation can be adopted. The multiplied pattern is much thinner and easier to read, and sensitivity of measurement can be enhanced.

An Efficient Method for Underwater Video Summarization and Object Detection Using YoLoV3

Currently,worldwide industries and communities are concerned with building,expanding,and exploring the assets and resources found in the oceans and seas.More precisely,to analyze a stock,archaeology,and surveillance,sev-eral cameras are installed underseas to collect videos.However,on the other hand,these large size videos require a lot of time and memory for their processing to extract relevant information.Hence,to automate this manual procedure of video assessment,an accurate and efficient automated system is a greater necessity.From this perspective,we intend to present a complete framework solution for the task of video summarization and object detection in underwater videos.We employed a perceived motion energy(PME)method tofirst extract the keyframes followed by an object detection model approach namely YoloV3 to perform object detection in underwater videos.The issues of blurriness and low contrast in underwater images are also taken into account in the presented approach by applying the image enhancement method.Furthermore,the suggested framework of underwater video summarization and object detection has been evaluated on a publicly available brackish dataset.It is observed that the proposed framework shows good performance and hence ultimately assists several marine researchers or scientists related to thefield of underwater archaeology,stock assessment,and surveillance.

Background removal and weld defect detection based on energy distribution of image

The lateral wave in ultrasonic TOFD （time of flight diffraction） image has a tail in transit time, which disturbs the detection and evaluation of shallow weld defect. Meanwhile, the lateral wave and back-wall echo that act as background add redundant data in digital image processing. In order to separate defect wave from lateral wave and prepare the way for following image processing, an algorithm of background removal method named as mean-subtraction is developed. Based on this, an improved method by statistic of the energy distribution in the image is proposed. The results show that by choosing proper threshold value according to the axial energy distribution of the image, the background can be removed automatically and the defect section becomes predominant. Meanwhile, diffractive wave of shallow weld defect can be separated from lateral wave effectively.

Auto detection of wood texture orientation by Radon transform

A novel and efficient approach for detecting wood texture orientation by computer was presented. Four Matlab functions were tried to describe the relative position and orientation of wood texture pixels, to detect texture shape and to create skeletal lines image of wood texture, and BWMORPH function was found the best one. Then by Radon transform, it generated a signature composed of 180 values, each value summing up the size of texture lines that are shaped along that angle, and a two dimensional curve plot was drawn to represent the texture orientation of wood. Furthermore, it analyzed texture orientations of forty species as well as their general statistic laws, classified by softwood, hardwood, radial section and tangential section, and the results showed that texture orientation laws described by Radon trans- form plot and their extracting datum were in accord with the impression of wood texture that people possessed in daily life, which con- firmed the validity of this new approach and their appealing utilization potentials.

Machine Vision Based Measurement of Dynamic Contact Angles in Microchannel Flows

When characterizing flows in miniaturized channels, the determination of the dynamic contact angle is important. By measuring the dynamic contact angle, the flow properties of the flowing liquid and the effect of material properties on the flow can be characterized. A machine vision based system to measure the contact angle of front or rear menisci of a moving liquid plug is described in this article. In this research, transparent flow channels fabricated on thermoplastic polymer and sealed with an adhesive tape are used. The transparency of the channels enables image based monitoring and measurement of flow variables, including the dynamic contact angle. It is shown that the dynamic angle can be measured from a liquid flow in a channel using the image based measurement system. An image processing algorithm has been developed in a MATLAB environment. Images are taken using a CCD camera and the channels are illuminated using a custom made ring light. Two fitting methods, a circle and two parabolas, are experimented and the results are compared in the measurement of the dynamic contact angles.

3D reconstruction of single rising bubble in water using digital image processing and characteristic matrix

Reconstructing the shape of a bubble will lay a firm foundation for further description of the dynamic characteristics of bubbly flow, especially for a single rising bubble or separate bubbles whose interaction could be neglected. In this case, the rising bubble is usually simulated as an ellipsoid consisting of two semi-eUipsoids up and down. Thus the projected image of a bubble consists of two semi-ellipses. In this paper, a method for reconstructing the ellipsoid bubble model is described following digital image processing, using the Hough transform in 2D ellipse parameter extraction which could cover most of the bubble edge points in the image. Then a method based on characteristic symmetric matrix is described to detect 3D bubble ellipsoid model parameters from 2D ellipse parameters of projection planes. This method can be applied to bubbles rising with low-velocity in static flow field much in conformity with the projection theory and the shape variation of the rising bubble. This method does not need to solve nonlinear equation sets and provides an easy way to calculate the characteristic matrix of a space ellipsoid model for deformed bubble. For bubble application, two assumed conditions and a calibration factor are proposed to simplify calculation and detection. Errors of ellipsoid center and three axes are minor. Errors of the three rotation angles have no negative effect on further study on bubbly flow.

A novel method of rapidly modeling optical properties of actual photonic crystal fibres

The flexible structure of photonic crystal fibre not only offers novel optical properties but also brings some difficulties in keeping the fibre structure in the fabrication process which inevitably cause the optical properties of the resulting fibre to deviate from the designed properties. Therefore, a method of evaluating the optical properties of the actual fibre is necessary for the purpose of application. Up to now, the methods employed to measure the properties of the actual photonic crystal fibre often require long fibre samples or complex expensive equipments. To our knowledge, there are few studies of modeling an actual photonic crystal fibre and evaluating its properties rapidly. In this paper, a novel method, based on the combination model of digital image processing and the finite element method, is proposed to rapidly model the optical properties of the actual photonic crystal fibre. Two kinds of photonic crystal fibres made by Crystal Fiber A/S are modeled. It is confirmed from numerical results that the proposed method is simple, rapid and accurate for evaluating the optical properties of the actual photonic crystal fibre without requiring complex equipment.

Microstructural Characteristics of Asphalt Concrete with Different Gradations by X-ray CT

The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the effects of asphalt concrete types on the microstructural characteristics at high-temperature. Suspend-dense structure and Skeleton-dense structure were selected to investigate the deformation of pavement at meso-scale. The internal microstructures of typical asphalt concretes, AC, SUP and SMA, were scanned by X-ray CT device, and microstructural changes before and after high-temperature damage were researched by digital image processing. Adaptive threshold segmentation algorithm（ATSA） based on image radius was developed and utilized to obtain the binary images of aggregates, air-voids and asphalt mastic. Then the shape and distribution of air-voids and aggregates were analyzed. The results show that the ATSA can distinguish the target and background effectively. Gradation and coarse aggregate size of asphalt mixtures have an obvious influence on the distribution of air-voids. The movements of aggregate particles are complex and aggregates with elliptic sharp show great rotation. The effect of gradation on microstructure during high-temperature damage promotes the research about the failure mechanism of asphalt concrete pavement.

Two-dimensional SEM image-based analysis of coal porosity and its pore structure

A quantitative analysis of the porosity,pore size distribution,and fractal dimensions of pores is significant for studying the pore structure characteristics of coal.This study utilized 12 anthracite coal samples from the Sihe mining area to explore the pore structure characteristics of the coal therein.Hundred randomly selected points on each sliced coal sample were imaged via scanning electron microscopy,and a total of 1200 images were used for the analysis.The porosity and fractal dimensions of the coal samples were analyzed via digital image processing and box-counting dimension methods.This method is characterized by extensive graphical analysis,and the results are based on statistical methods.These were also used to analyze the structural and development characteristics of the microscopic pores in the coal.The results reveal that the surface porosity obtained via digital image processing was 16.11%lower than that measured experimentally.The fractal dimension and porosity of the pore surface were fitted to a natural logarithmic curve.The rate of change in the pore fractal dimension depends on the porosity such that,to some degree,a greater porosity is associated with more complex pore structures,a higher degree of micropore development,and improved pore connectivity.

Dimensional Description of On-line Wear Debris Images for Wear Characterization

As one of the most wear monitoring indicator, dimensional feature of individual particles has been studied mostly focusing on off-line analytical ferrograph. Recent development in on-line wear monitoring with wear debris images shows that merely wear debris concentration has been extracted from on-line ferrograph images. It remains a bottleneck of obtaining the dimension of on-line particles due to the low resolution, high contamination and particle’s chain pattern of an on-line image sample. In this work, statistical dimension of wear debris in on-line ferrograph images is investigated. A two-step procedure is proposed as follows. First, an on-line ferrograph image is decomposed into four component images with different frequencies. By doing this, the size of each component image is reduced by one fourth, which will increase the efficiency of subsequent processing. The low-frequency image is used for extracting the area of wear debris, and the high-frequency image is adopted for extracting contour. Second, a statistical equivalent circle dimension is constructed by equaling the overall wear debris in the image into equivalent circles referring to the extracted total area and premeter of overall wear debris. The equivalent circle dimension, reflecting the statistical dimension of larger wear debris in an on-line image, is verified by manual measurement. Consequently, two preliminary applications are carried out in gasoline engine bench tests of durability and running-in. Evidently, the equivalent circle dimension, together with the previously developed concentration index, index of particle coverage area （IPCA）, show good performances in characterizing engine wear conditions. The proposed dimensional indicator provides a new statistical feature of on-line wear particles for on-line wear monitoring. The new dimensional feature conveys profound information about wear severity.