QUANTITATIVE MICROSCOPY 4 6 7

where the subscript i refers to the class number and the subscript k is the number
of classes. D is the arithmetic mean spatial diameter. The mean grain volume V is
the reciprocal of Nv. The arithmetic standard deviation of the grain diameter,
s(D), is calculated from the following equation:
1/2
1
2 _ 1
(6-46)
-XNvADi-D)
s(D) =
Nv
The arithmetic mean diameter D can also be calculated from the following
relationship:
NA = ~DNV

(6-47)

or by Eq. (6-45) employing the midpoints of the size classes for >,-.
The nature of the distribution can be assessed using arithmetic- or logarithmicprobability paper. With either paper, the maximum diameter of each size class is
plotted against the percentage of grains with diameters equal to and less than the
size class. If a normal distribution is present, a straight-line relationship is observed
on the arithmetic-probability paper; if a log-normal relationship is present, a linear
relationship is obtained on the log-probability paper. In the latter case, the geometric mean diameter Dg and the geometric standard deviation s(Dg) can be calculated
to provide a better description of the data:
2 NVii log Dt
log Dg = Nv
AVilogDi + NV2\ogD2 + ... + Nv,k\ogDk
Mv

(6-48)

.1/2

,
m\
P N V , , (log >, - log P g ) 2 T ~
log s(Dg) = L
J

(6-49)

From the value of Nv, the ASTM grain size can be estimated using the assumption
of spherical grains based on the original Nv values in ASTM El 12-63:
G = [2.215 log Nv] - 2.95

(6-50)

which is slightly different than Eq. (6-35).

Many methods have been developed to determine Nv for grain size and
particle-size distribution. Three of the more popular methods are the SchwartzSaltykov diameter method [1-3], the Saltykov-Johnson area method [2, 3], and
the Saltykov area method [55]. The latter method is particularly useful because it
eliminates much of the tedium associated with the calculations.
Saltykov has modifed the Saltykov-Johnson area method in order to eliminate
the tedious sequential calculations for the sectioning plane influence [55]. The
Saltykov area method is considerably faster than the other methods and is
amenable to automation. The same size classification scheme is used as in the
Saltykov-Johnson method except that the class numbering system (30 to 1) is
dropped. In the new method, the factor used is (10~ *)" where n is 1, 2, 3, etc.