Geometric Features and Fractal Nature of Soil Analyzed by X-Ray Microtomography Image Processing

Abstract

One of the most basic topics in soil mechanics is the geometrical features of the particles and the soil arrangement. Although these features are of high relevance, many definitions and processes used to evaluate them are not as precise as they could be. The conventional laboratory tests can require a certain amount of effort and lack objectivity. Also, the geometrical properties are important to understand the physical phenomena that occur in the medium and characterize the soil. Thus, this study presents several image processing algorithms and mathematical formulations to analyze sandy material through microtomography. These algorithms are capable of generating supervised information about the characterization process of soil morphology by using mathematical definitions. The algorithms are capable of generating the grain-size distribution, the soil tortuosity, the void ratio, and the sphericity of grains. Moreover, this work considers the fractal nature of the soil using non-Euclidean approaches for a broader comprehension of the soil geometric properties.