Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jkksz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T01:52:21.755Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Image-Based Characterization of Fracture Surface Roughness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2011

A.B. Abell
Affiliation:
University of Illinois, Department of Civil Engineering, Urbana, IL 61801
D.A. Lange
Affiliation:
University of Illinois, Department of Civil Engineering, Urbana, IL 61801
Get access

Abstract

Analysis of images from SEM, optical and confocal microscopes provides insight into the roughness of fracture surfaces of cement-based materials. Several techniques including 3D surface reconstruction and 2-D vertical contour analysis are compared. Roughness parameters and fractal dimensions are computed to describe the degree of tortuosity of the fracture surface. The tortuosity of the surface (i.e. crack path) is an aspect that has not been adequately integrated into fracture mechanics models of cement-based materials. Topographic maps from confocal microscopy reveal orientation of the crack front throughout the fracture process, allowing analysis of mixed-mode character of nominally mode I fracture. These techniques allow quantification of microstructural parameters to be linked to material properties.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Lange, D.A., Jennings, H.M., Shah, S.P., Journal of Material Science, 28, 3879 (1993).Google Scholar
2. Faber, K.T. and Evans, A.G., Acta metall., 31, 565 (1983).Google Scholar
3. Lange, D.A., Jennings, H.M., and Shah, S.P., Journal of the American Ceramic Society, 76, 589 (1993).Google Scholar
4. Russ, J.C., Fractal Surfaces, (Plenum Press, New York, 1994).Google Scholar
5. Mandelbrot, B.B., The Fractal Geometry of Nature, (Freeman, New York, 1982).Google Scholar