Author/Editor		Moreau, Eric; Touchard, Gerard
Title		3D topological analysis of sphere packings and boolean media: determination of the critical neck radius by image analysis
Type		članek
Source		Image Anal Stereol
Vol. and No.		Letnik 20, št. Suppl 1
Publication year		2001
Volume		str. 432-7
Language		eng
Abstract		Transport phenomena in porous media depend mainly on the spatial arrangement of voids and solid particles. This is especially true with respect to the radius of the flow paths. Here the topology of 3D porous media is characterised using the notion of critical neck defined by Moreau et al. (1996, 1998). This numerical method, which could be compared to the mercury porosimetry measurement, consists of determining the porosity of the medium connected to the main percolant network by narrowings of increasing thickness. In fact, the objective is to detennine the smallest neck of the flow paths by successive openings and geodesic propagations. Because their resemblance to many geological media, two types of modelled porous medium are analysed: packings of spherical particles and random distributions of spherical particles usually called Boolean media. Twenty-four three-dimensional images with their size varying from 600 x 600 x 600 voxels to 1200 x 1200 x 1200 voxels are digitised and analysed in cuboctahedral grid. Results show that percolation curves as a funetion of the medium type are not similar and that the critical neck of porous media considered increases nearly linearly with their corresponding porosity. Furthennore, the results indicate that the critical neck radius of Boolean media is larger than the critical neck of random packings.
Descriptors		IMAGE PROCESSING, COMPUTER-ASSISTED MERCURY PARTICLE SIZE POROSITY