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The Use Of Morphological Algorithms And Finite Difference Methods on 3-Dimensional Paper Coating Structures For Identifying Pores, Gathering Statistical Data And Physical Constants

Thomas Byholm, Parvez Alam, Jan Westerholm, Martti Toivakka, The Use Of Morphological Algorithms And Finite Difference Methods on 3-Dimensional Paper Coating Structures For Identifying Pores, Gathering Statistical Data And Physical Constants. In: 13th International Coating Science and Technology proceedings, 2006, 2006.

Abstract:

The optimal set of end-use properties of coated paper is a function of its intended application. The coating structure of the paper controls a wide variety of physical properties such as light scattering, fluid absorption, surface strength and runnability since these are all affected by the microscopic structure of the coating. In this paper we suggest using computer algorithms to analyse these coating structures by dividing the porous media into separate entities called pores. This enables the extraction of statistical data of the void structure including the pore size, pore connectivity and the throat area between pores. Various algorithms for accomplishing this task, have been proposed, mainly different types of thinning algorithms [1,2,3,4] or closely related skeletonisation algorithms, which rely on erosion methodologies. These algorithms often show problems concerning robustness due to
digitalisation problems, resulting in unpredictable results as pointed
out by the authors of the Maximal Balls algorithm (MBA) [4]. One of the
main challenges facing erosion-type algorithms is to ensure that the
erosion process is proceeding with equal speed in all directions. Voxels
diagonally offset from a central voxel represent a larger distance than
voxels that are horizontally or vertically offset from the centre point.
The MBA and skeletonisation algorithms use the same principles based on
spherical volumes and show promising results regarding these problems
[4]. It is for this reason that the MBA was chosen as a starting point.
We suggest improvements to the original MBA [4] in order to increase
efficiency on large scale problems and to customise it for paper coating
requirements. We take advantage of some fundamental geometrical
properties for avoiding calculations and to enable pre-calculation of
data. We suggest new data representations for introducing significant
memory optimisations by flattening hierarchical structures essential to
the algorithm. Moreover we introduce a straightforward solution for the
removal of false pore maxima. Computational methods for calculating
important physical properties of coatings are also suggested in this
paper. More specifically, the tortuosity and permeability are calculated
using packings generated using random particle packing algorithms.

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BibTeX entry:

@INPROCEEDINGS{inpByAlWeTo06a,
  title = {The Use Of Morphological Algorithms And Finite Difference Methods on 3-Dimensional Paper Coating Structures For Identifying Pores, Gathering Statistical Data And Physical Constants},
  booktitle = {13th International Coating Science and Technology proceedings, 2006},
  author = {Byholm, Thomas and Alam, Parvez and Westerholm, Jan and Toivakka, Martti},
  year = {2006},
}

Belongs to TUCS Research Unit(s): High Performance Computing and Communication

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