Development and use of digital image analysis techniques for analyzing sectional characteristics of some geomaterials

Certain characteristics of geomaterials can be effectively quantified by means of digital image analysis methods. This thesis study targeted development of a suite of digital image processing algorithms directly applicable to geotechnical engineering field. Image processing methods have been applied to the investigation and classification of materials of varying geological origin. The volume measurement technique using digital image processing methods is original to this study. The improvement made to skeleton based segmentation method has been more successful and robust on separating touching soil grains. The digital signature technique was greatly enhanced in order to obtain better results while characterizing grain shapes. Combined application of grayscale and color segmentation techniques was made for the identification of grains and voids adhered together by a cohesive matrix. It was demonstrated that the digital imaging technique and digital data processing algorithms developed herein could be utilized as a powerful nondestructive testing and evaluation method when used with statistical data analysis tools