Analyzing X-Ray tomographies of granular packings

TL;DR

This paper presents methods for analyzing 3D X-ray tomography data of granular packings, focusing on particle detection and characterization of their spatial and contact properties, with software tools provided for reproducibility.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive approach and software for analyzing granular packings from tomography data, including particle detection and contact analysis, applicable to various particle shapes.

Findings

Effective particle detection in 3D tomography data

Analysis of pair correlation functions and Voronoi volumes

Software package for reproducible analysis

Abstract

Starting from three-dimensional volume data of a granular packing, as e.g. obtained by X-ray Computed Tomography, we discuss methods to first detect the individual particles in the sample and then analyze their properties. This analysis includes the pair correlation function, the volume and shape of the Voronoi cells and the number and type of contacts formed between individual particles. We mainly focus on packings of monodisperse spheres, but we will also comment on other monoschematic particles such as ellipsoids and tetrahedra. This paper is accompanied by a package of free software containing all programs (including source code) and an example three-dimensional dataset which allows the reader to reproduce and modify all examples given.