On the accuracy of fragment size measurement by image analysis in combination with some distribution functions

Summary  Size distributions of fragments of crushed rock in conveyor belts and of blasted rock in a muckpile obtained by sieving are compared with the size distributions obtained by digital image analysis of photographs of the same materials taken on-site. Several calculation methods are tested, based on the raw distribution of fragment areas and on the volume-transformed ones. The influence of the calibration of the system on the results and the performance of the system in a non-calibrated mode are evaluated. The capacity of some distributions (Rosin-Rammler, Swebrec and lognormal) to fit the data in the coarse region (where particles can be delineated, i.e. discriminated individually) and to extrapolate to the non-delineated fines (where particles cannot be outlined and their contour delineated) is assessed. The error between the sizes measured and the sizes of the reference distributions (determined by sieving) increases from the coarse to the fines region. The maximum error at a given size depends primarily on its value relative to the fines cut-off (FCO) of the image analysis. In general, at sizes greater than the FCO, where the system is able to delineate fragments reliably, both volume and surface-based, calibrated, calculations can determine the sizes with maximum error expectancy of about 30%. Below the FCO, only the calibrated, volume calculation maintains a maximum error of 30%, down to sizes of about one fourth the FCO, rapidly increasing for smaller sizes. Where the calibration is done based on data above the FCO, errors can be large below this point, in excess of 80% at sizes half the FCO. In the fines range (sizes smaller than 0.2 times the FCO) the maximum errors can be close to or greater than 100% for most of the calculations and function fittings. Of the distributions tested, all of them are acceptable at sizes above the FCO; below that, the Swebrec function seems to adapt better towards the fines than the Rosin-Rammler and lognormal. Correspondence: José A. Sanchidrián, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, E.T.S.I. Minas, Rios Rosas 21, 28003 Madrid, Spain     

膨胀土干湿循环过程孔径分布试验研究及其应用

采用压汞法对膨胀土干湿循环过程孔隙大小分布的演化规律进行了试验研究,结果表明,随着循环次数的增加,膨胀土的总孔隙体积、孔隙率和平均孔径等微结构参数均递增;分析了试验结果产生偏差的原因,其一是干湿循环过程中膨胀土试样的体积收缩,其二是孔隙形状和测试压力有限的影响,在此基础上对试验数据进行了合理修正。结合毛细管模型,利用修正的孔径分布曲线推算了膨胀土干湿循环过程中的土-水特征曲线,并分析了干湿循环过程中基质吸力的变化规律：以含水率28%为分界点,含水率大于该值时基质吸力随循环次数N的增加而线性递增,含水率小于该值时基质吸力随循环次数N的增加而线性递减;在此基础上,建立了基质吸力与循环次数之间的关系,为解释膨胀土力学特性的干湿循环效应开辟了一条新途径。     

沉桩引起的三维超静孔隙水压力计算及其应用

引入时间、深度参数分析在饱和软粘土中沉桩时引起的超静孔隙水压力,给出了考虑固结效应的超静孔隙水压力的三维解析解;分析了超静孔隙水压力的消散过程中桩周土发生曼德尔效应的时间和区域,提出了在群桩施工过程中土体中的超静孔隙水压力是消散与累加的综合过程,施工完毕后则变为单一的消散的计算模型,并给出计算公式。通过算例,分析了桩群不同桩距、不同入桩顺序对超静孔隙水压力的影响。     

Methodic aspects of the measurement of pore pressure in clay soils under small strains

A technique for pore pressure measurement in triaxial tests of clay soils under small strains is considered. The essential role of the following methodic aspects of the measurements is shown, namely, the effect of temperature on the pore pressure under measurement, its difference in the central part and on the ends, and the dependence of pore pressure on strain rate.     

Digital measurement of 2D and 3D cracks in sandstones through improved pseudo color image enhancement and 3D reconstruction method

An integrated approach of improved pseudo color image enhancement (IPCE) method and three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction technology is proposed. The evolution characteristics of two-dimensional (2D) and 3D spatial cracks in X-ray computed tomography (CT) images of sandstones subjected to triaxial compression with confining pressure of 10, 20, and 30 MPa are investigated. The equations of crack width, length, and dip angle are established based on the proposed digital damage ratio. Based on the pseudo color images, point cloud maps with roughness and spatial images of cracks are investigated. The numerical results show that this proposed method is effective to study and understand the fracturing properties of rocks.     

三维弹塑性模型在路堤软基固结分析中应用

针对基于SMP准则改进的剑桥模型(MCC-SMP),采用弹性预测和塑性修正两阶段的回映算法,给出了应力更新算法,根据其算法编制了非线性有限元子程序,进行了三轴压缩、三轴伸长及平面应变等单元试验问题的数值模拟,通过数值分析和试验结果的对比,验证了子程序的精度;采用该本构模型,对澳大利亚某试验段路堤软土地基固结进行了三维有限元分析,重点分析和对比了孔压、沉降及水平位移的变化规律。     

Consistent grain size distribution of pedogenic maghemite of surface soils and Miocene loessic soils on the Chinese Loess Plateau

There is agreement that ultrafine maghemite grains (<100 nm) are responsible for the magnetic enhancement of Chinese loess. Recent studies show that grain size distribution of ultrafine pedogenic maghemite grains within the aeolian sequences on the central Chinese Loess Plateau deposited in the last 8 Ma is consistent. However, whether the observed grain size distribution of ultrafine pedogenic maghemite grains can be observed in the western Chinese Loess Plateau and modern soils is not entirely clear. Here we find that young surface soil samples across the Chinese Loess Plateau and early Neogene loessic soils from the western Chinese Loess Plateau also show consistent grain size distribution with that of ultrafine pedogenic maghemite grains on the central Chinese Loess Plateau. The fact that young surface soil samples show apparent magnetic enhancement suggests that the ultrafine pedogenic maghemite grains derive from oxidation of ultrafine magnetite grains. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of a 3D GIS and its application to karst areas

There is a growing interest in modeling and analyzing karst phenomena in three dimensions. This paper integrates geology, groundwater hydrology, geographic information system (GIS), database management system (DBMS), visualization and data mining to study karst features in Huaibei, China. The 3D geo-objects retrieved from the karst area are analyzed and mapped into different abstract levels. The spatial relationships among the objects are constructed by a dual-linker. The shapes of the 3D objects and the topological models with attributes are stored and maintained in the DBMS. Spatial analysis was then used to integrate the data in the DBMS and the 3D model to form a virtual reality (VR) to provide analytical functions such as distribution analysis, correlation query, and probability assessment. The research successfully implements 3D modeling and analyses in the karst area, and meanwhile provides an efficient tool for government policy-makers to set out restrictions on water resource development in the area.     

Evolution of pore characteristics in the 3D numerical direct shear test

The quantitative analysis of the pore characteristics of granular materials has been often challenging due to arbitrarily shaped geometry of pores despite its significant implications. In this study, we investigate the size distribution and orientation of pores in dilative and contractive assemblies in the direct shear test by performing 3D discrete element simulations in conjunction with image processing of pore geometry. We quantitatively define unit pores by the Delaunay Tessellation followed by pore mergence and fitting them with ellipsoids. It is observed that the evolution of pore size distribution depends on the dilatancy of assemblies. Results also show that the direction of principal stresses governs the orientations of pores during shearing, with respect to the size of pores. This study highlights that the dominant factors of the pore characteristics upon shearing are stress anisotropy and particle mobilization to make the internal structure stable.     

An image analysis method to determine crystal size distributions of olivine in kimberlite

Crystal size distributions (CSDs) are a standard method of describing populations of crystals within magmatic rocks. Olivine is the dominant phase in kimberlite (∼40–50% by volume) and features a diverse range of sizes, shapes and origins. CSDs of olivine provide a logical means of semi-quantitatively characterising kimberlite. The CSDs can then be used to distinguish or correlate between kimberlite bodies or to investigate processes related to ascent, emplacement and eruption. In this paper, we present an automatic image analysis technique that provides efficient quantification of olivine CSDs within digital images of polished slabs of kimberlite. This technique relies on a combination of algorithms for detecting regions of interest (ROI) and for segmentation of ROIs in order to identify individual olivine crystals that are used for size distribution datasets. The detection process identifies regions expected to be olivine using a model-based colour detection technique using Mahalanobis distance combined with texture analysis based on local standard deviation and greyscale foreground enhancement techniques. The segmentation process separates adjacent domains to identify individual crystals using an iterative marker-based watershed algorithm to separate adjoined structures of varying sizes. We demonstrate the utility of automatic image analysis by comparing CSDs for olivine derived from this method versus results from manual digitisation of olivine grains. The automatic detection system correctly identified ∼86% of the manually detected olivine domains; ∼88% of the automatically detected regions correctly correlate to manually defined olivine grains. Discrepancies between the two methods are mostly the result of oversimplification of crystal margins (i.e. rounding) by manual tracing whereas automatic boundary recognition shows clear advantages in identifying irregularities in crystal edges. Closer examination of the results shows that both methods suffer from under-representation of smaller crystals due to: (1) human subjectivity and error in manual tracing and (2) noise removal processes in automatic detection. Automatic detection of olivine grains is much more efficient than conventional manual tracing; manual detection requires ∼6 h per sample versus ∼1 min for automatic analysis of the same sample.     

Application of SAXS and SANS in evaluation of porosity, pore size distribution and surface area of coal

This paper discusses the applicability of small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and small angle neutron scattering (SANS) techniques for determining the porosity, pore size distribution and internal specific surface area in coals. The method is noninvasive, fast, inexpensive and does not require complex sample preparation. It uses coal grains of about 0.8 mm size mounted in standard pellets as used for petrographic studies.Assuming spherical pore geometry, the scattering data are converted into the pore size distribution in the size range 1 nm (10 Å) to 20 μm (200,000 Å) in diameter, accounting for both open and closed pores. FTIR as well as SAXS and SANS data for seven samples of oriented whole coals and corresponding pellets with vitrinite reflectance (R_o) values in the range 0.55% to 5.15% are presented and analyzed. Our results demonstrate that pellets adequately represent the average microstructure of coal samples.The scattering data have been used to calculate the maximum surface area available for methane adsorption. Total porosity as percentage of sample volume is calculated and compared with worldwide trends. By demonstrating the applicability of SAXS and SANS techniques to determine the porosity, pore size distribution and surface area in coals, we provide a new and efficient tool, which can be used for any type of coal sample, from a thin slice to a representative sample of a thick seam.     

Fractal analysis of the roughness and size distribution of granular materials

The roughness, i.e. general shape and surface irregularity, of particulate soil is an important characteristic that affects the mass behavior of the soil. Characterization of roughness has typically been limited to visual comparison of particles to standard charts, although other more quantitative methods such as Fourier analysis have also been used. Particle size distribution is another important mass-behavioral characteristic of granular soils, and similar to roughness, is defined within limited boundaries. Fractal geometry can be applied to irregular or fragmented patterns such as roughness and grain size distribution to provide quantifying and unique numerical values. This paper presents an evaluation of the applicability of fractal dimensioning techniques to the quantification of both physical particle roughness and grain size distribution of granular soil. The divider and the area-perimeter fractal dimensioning techniques are used to quantify roughness of planar profiles of individual sand grains. The characterization of the size distribution of granular material using fractal geometry is evaluated through Korcak's fragmentation theory. As shown herein, both the divider and the area-perimeter fractal dimensioning techniques are useful in characterizing soil particle roughness, and the results confirm the importance of differentiating between textural and structural aspects of roughness. Fractal geometry can also be used to quantify the size distribution of granular soils with relatively well-graded size distributions.     

离心场中土体图像采集与位移测量系统的研制与应用

以存储前移为主要思路,开发了离心场中高质量图像高速采集与位移非接触测量系统。该系统由图像采集、数据存储、通讯控制、分析处理和辅助制样5个子系统组成,能够克服高速旋转的离心场的干扰,在离心模型试验过程中高速采集高质量图像。该系统能够对多点同时进行测量,从而得到土体表面任意时刻、任意区域的位移场,并具有对土体无干扰、测量精度高、前期准备工作量小、自动化程度高等优点。使用该系统对土坡破坏离心模型试验中的土坡变形过程进行了测量,结果表明,土坡的破坏过程可分为均匀变形、应变局部化和破坏后变形3个阶段,加载过程中首先在坡顶和坡脚产生应变局部化。     

An extension of the Saltykov method to quantify 3D grain size distributions in mylonites

The estimation of 3D grain size distributions (GSDs) in mylonites is key to understanding the rheological properties of crystalline aggregates and to constraining dynamic recrystallization models. This paper investigates whether a common stereological method, the Saltykov method, is appropriate for the study of GSDs in mylonites. In addition, we present a new stereological method, named the two-step method, which estimates a lognormal probability density function describing the 3D GSD. Both methods are tested for reproducibility and accuracy using natural and synthetic data sets. The main conclusion is that both methods are accurate and simple enough to be systematically used in recrystallized aggregates with near-equant grains. The Saltykov method is particularly suitable for estimating the volume percentage of particular grain-size fractions with an absolute uncertainty of ±5 in the estimates. The two-step method is suitable for quantifying the shape of the actual 3D GSD in recrystallized rocks using a single value, the multiplicative standard deviation (MSD) parameter, and providing a precision in the estimate typically better than 5%. The novel method provides a MSD value in recrystallized quartz that differs from previous estimates based on apparent 2D GSDs, highlighting the inconvenience of using apparent GSDs for such tasks.     

准噶尔盆地南缘低煤阶煤储层可动流体及孔径分布特征

为分析准噶尔盆地南缘（简称准南）低煤阶煤储层可动流体、束缚流体以及孔径分布特征,对准南6个矿区6个煤样进行了高速离心和低场核磁共振实验。实验结果表明：准南低煤阶煤以吸附孔发育最优,其次为渗流孔和裂隙。建立束缚水状态的最佳离心力为1.380 MPa;结合饱和水状态和束缚水状态的核磁共振T₂谱,得到可动流体孔隙度为0.45%~1.89%,平均1.29%;束缚流体孔隙度为1.03%~7.45%,平均4.18%,可动流体孔隙度与渗透率呈幂指数关系（R²=0.935 8）。根据\     

瞬变电磁视时间常数tau成像分析与应用研究

基于瞬变电磁二次场的衰减理论,分析了地质异常体岩性参数与瞬变电磁响应规律,即电导率与时间常数tau成正比,导电性越良好的矿体,其时间常数越大,且二次场曲线衰减越慢。将瞬变电磁数据分解成多时窗的含有tau参数的自然指数衰减规律,得出了晚期道基于时窗提取的视时间常数tau成像方法。通过物理模拟试算和实测数据的验证,视时间常数tau成像能很好地反映晚期道地质异常体在水平面上的空间分布特征。该方法计算速度快,克服了反演速度慢的问题,也为地质异常体的定位提供了重要依据,并为其他成像和反演方法提供约束条件有重大的指导意义。     

The measurement of D/H ratio in alkenones and their isotopic heterogeneity

Previous paleoenvironmental studies reported the δD values of a mixture of coeluting alkenones. Here, we present a semi-preparative normal-phase high-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (NP-HPLC–MS) method for purifying long chain (C₃₇ and C₃₈) unsaturated methyl and ethyl ketones (alkenones) on the basis of chain length and degree of unsaturation.The method was applied to purify alkenones in suspended particles and surface sediments from a site in Chesapeake Bay, eastern USA. The hydrogen isotopic composition of di- and triunsaturated C₃₇ and C₃₈ alkenones differed significantly on the basis of chain length and the degree of unsaturation, demonstrating the importance of gas chromatography–isotope ratio-mass spectrometry (GC–irMS) analysis of individual alkenones for accurate paleoenvironmental reconstruction. Constant fractionation factors between alkenones with different chain length but the same degree of unsaturation (${\alpha }_{{\text{C}}_{37:2}''–''{\text{C}}_{38:2}}\text{and}{\alpha }_{{\text{C}}_{37:3}''–''{\text{C}}_{38:3}}=1.01$) and those with the same chain length but different degree of unsaturation (${\alpha }_{{\text{C}}_{37:2}''–''{\text{C}}_{37:3}}\text{and}{\alpha }_{{\text{C}}_{38:2}''–''{\text{C}}_{38:3}}=0.97$) in all samples suggest that the values may represent hydrogen isotope fractionation associated with elongation and desaturation during alkenone biosynthesis.     

构造地质学若干术语的涵义解析和使用探讨

随着构造地质学科领域的学生、专业研究人员和出版论文、著作等数量的迅猛增长,以及该学科领域新创立术语的大量引入,一些术语被误用、滥用和不准确使用的现象时有发生。针对这一情况,从6个方面：①外延很广的术语;②有关联但涵义不同的术语;③不符合构造逻辑的术语;④可能不符合地质实际的术语;⑤“形”近“意”异的术语;⑥易被滥用的若干术语,对其中的若干术语进行涵义的解析和使用探讨,旨在满足同行顺利交流的需要和促进构造地质学科的发展。     

长江下游富镉土壤元素分布特征及其污染修复试验

在江苏长江沿岸一带新发现了大片富镉土壤,局部地段已经出现了蔬菜样品镉含量超标的重金属污染现象。笔者通过对江苏沿江富镉土壤元素地球化学特征的初步分析,探讨了引起局部土壤Cd污染的主要原因与特点,系统介绍了在南京八卦洲受Cd污染的蔬菜地开展现场重金属污染土壤修复与调控试验的主要研究资料与结果,发现施用适量的钙镁磷肥、石灰等固定剂对于降低蔬菜中的Cd含量有明显成效,为长江下游富Cd土壤区蔬菜安全生产提供了新的思路。     

A new approach to the three-dimensional quantification of angularity using image analysis of the size and form of coarse aggregates

This paper describes a system for the acquisition and analysis of 3D data from the surfaces of coarse aggregate particles. The technique uses laser triangulation to acquire data from the upper hemispheres of particles passing along a conveyor belt. Methods of determining particle size and form in three dimensions are described and a new approach to the quantification of angularity is presented. The algorithm uses mathematical morphology to provide a geometrically meaningful interpretation of particle shape. The relative advantages of 2D and 3D analysis of aggregate particles are discussed, and results are presented which demonstrate the validity of this approach.