Kuo, C.-Y., Frost, J. D. & Chameau, J.-L. A. (1998). GeÂotechnique 48, No.
4, 515±525
Image analysis determination of stereology based fabric tensors
C . - Y. K U O,  J. D. F RO S T y a n d J. - L . A . C H A M E AU y
Fabric tensors that characterize the distribution
of directional data from microscopic observa-
tions are considered to be a useful measure of
anisotropy for granular materials. This paper
describes the measurement of several stereology
based fabric tensors, such as the surface area
tensor S ij, mean free path tensor ë ij and porosity
tensor N ij, the formulations in three dimensions
of which can be obtained by making observa-
tions in three mutually perpendicular planes.
The measurement techniques and the implemen-
tation of these measurement techniques using
image analysis are described. The implementa-
tion of these techniques is illustrated using typi-
cal images. The sensitivity, generality, practical
implications and limitations of the techniques
are also discussed.
KEYWORDS: anisotropy; fabric/structure of soils;
laboratory tests; microscopy; sands.
INTRODUCTION
There is increasing evidence that the mechanical
behaviour of granular materials depends to a great
extent on the relative arrangement of voids and
particles, or `fabric'. Several attempts have been
made to develop fabric tensors that describe the
packing of granular materials (e.g. Cowin, 1985;
Oda et al., 1985; Tobita, 1989; Muhunthan, 1991).
Fabric tensors that characterize the distribution of
directional data are measures of the anisotropy of
the microstructure, and are thus con-sidered to be
useful measures of the fabric (in addition to poros-
ity) of granular materials. Moreover, they can be
used explicitly in a constitutive model, thus allow-
ing the discrete granular medium to be described
in a continuum sense (e.g. Tobita, 1989; Muhun-
than, 1991; Oda & Ohnishi, 1992).
The spatial distribution of various micromecha-
nical quantities, such as contact normals, the orien-
tation of the long axis of particles and the shape of
associated voids, have been used to de®ne the
Manuscript received 6 January 1997; revised manuscript
accepted 10 December 1997.
Discussion on this paper closes 6 November 1998; for
further details see p. ii.
 Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg.
{ Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta.
515
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Les tenseurs de texture qui caracteÂrisent la
distribution des donneÂes directionnelles obtenues
aÁ partir d'observations au microscope sont con-
sideÂreÂs comme eÂtant un moyen utile de mesurer
l'anisotropie des matieÁres en grains. Cet exposeÂ
deÂcrit le mesurage de plusieurs tenseurs de
texture aÁ base steÂreÂologique comme un tenseur
de surface ( Si j ), un tenseur de parcours libre
moyen ( Ai j ) et un tenseur de porosite (Ni j ) dont
les formulations en trois dimensions peuvent eÃtre
obtenues graÃce aÁ des observations sur trois plans
mutuellement perpendiculaires. Nous deÂcrivons
les techniques de mesurage et leur mise en
oeuvre en utilisant une analyse d'image. Nous
illustrons la mise en oeuvre de ces techniques en
utilisant des images type. Nous examinons aussi
la sensibiliteÂ, le caracteÁre geÂneÂral, les implica-
tions pratiques et les limites de ces techniques.
fabric tensor. However, it is almost impossible to
identify contact normals or the particle orientation
for each particle in three dimensions. In practice,
two-dimensional equivalent tensors are introduced
that can be determined by measuring contact nor-
mal distribution (or particle orientation) from ver-
tical and horizontal sections. Then, the two-
dimensional equivalent tensors Fij are extended to
one three-dimensional fabric tensor Fij under as-
sumptions of: axial symmetry; and the principal
values of F1 and F2 in two dimensions are propor-
tional to the principal values F1 and F2 in three
dimensions (Oda & Nakayama, 1989). Futhermore,
the determinations of a contact normal, or branch,
or void polygon rely on the contact of particles in
two-dimensional sections. However, particles that
contact in three dimensions are unlikely to contact
in a two-dimensional section since the probability
on intercepting the contacts in such a section is
generally very small.
This paper describes different fabric measures
for granular materials, in which fabric tensors are
formulated in three dimensions based on the prin-
ciple of stereology. Stereological methods are tools
for obtaining three-dimensional quantitative infor-
mation based mainly on observations made on two-
dimensional sections. Hilliard (1967) has provided
a mathematical framework for the quantitative de-
 516
scription of anisotropic structures. He dealt with
the orientation distribution of lines in a plane, of
surfaces in a space, and of lines in space and
related them to the number of intersections per
unit length of test line PL and the number of
interactions per unit area of test plane PA . If
intersections are counted for each different orienta-
tion of the probe line or plane, then the `structure
anisotropy' (i.e. the distribution of the curves or
surfaces) can be determined. Hilliard's method was
further formulated into a Cartesian tensor by
Kanatani (1984a,b, 1985a). Kanatani described dis-
tribution densities of directional data in terms of
what he called `fabric tensors'. He ®rst generalized
Hilliard's method for different types of problem
into a single mathematical framework called the
Buffon transform. Then, he derived its inverse
transform in terms of Cartesian tensor equations,
which made it possible to determine the fabric
tensors directly from the results of intersection
counting.
Digital image processing and analysis is a
powerful method for gathering information. This
technique has been recently used to quantify many
aspects of the fabric of granular materials. For
example, it has been used to examine the unifor-
mity of sand specimens (Kuo & Frost, 1996) and
to quantify the size variation of voids and particles
of cohesionless soils through their local void ratio
distribution (Frost & Kuo, 1996). In the present
paper we describe the implementation of measure-
ment techniques using automated image analysis to
quantify several stereology based fabric tensors,
such as surface area tensors Sij , mean free path
tensor ë ij and porosity tensor Nij, which are meas-
ures of anisotropy of the microstructure. Such
implementations make the measurement of fabric
tensors very ef®cient.
STEREOLOGICAL METHOD
A brief summary of the stereological method is
presented herein. Detailed information of the theor-
etical developments can be found elsewhere
(Kanatani, 1984a,b, 1985a). Examples of the use of
this approach for geotechnical engineering pur-
poses can also be found in the literature (Kanatani,
1985b; Muhunthan, 1991). The stereological ap-
proach offers a uni®ed tensorial formulation for
fabric tensors in which the structure of materials
can be modelled via two measures: a scalar mea-
sure, giving the mean value of a fabric descriptor;
and tensors giving its directional distribution in
space. A symmetric distribution density f (n) is
expressed in the form
C be used to programme the algorithms described
f (n) ˆ [1 ‡ Dij n i n j ‡ Dijkl n i n j n k n l ‡ . . .]
4ð
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KUO, FROST AND CHAMEAU
„
where C ˆ f (n) dn and the fabric tensor Di1 ... in
is the nth `fabric tensor' of the distribution.
If high-order ¯uctuations of the distribution
density f (n) can be neglected, then f (n) is approx-
imated by
C
f (n) ˆ [1 ‡ Dij n i n j ] (2)
4ð
which is used to approximate the distribution den-
sity f (n) with an ellipse in two dimensions or an
ellipsoid in three dimensions. If the structure is
isotropic, Dij is zero and f (n) will be a circle in
two dimensions and a sphere in three dimensions.
Kanatani (1985a) showed that the mean value C
and fabric tensor Dij can be obtained from two
integrations M(I) and M in (I) of the observed quan-
tity N (m) in three perpendicular planes:
…
M(I) ˆ N (m) dm (3)
C(I)
M ij (I) ˆ m i m j N (m) dm (4)
C(I)
where C(I)„ is a unit circle encircling I perpendicu-
larly, and C(I) ds is the line integral along C(I)
normalized to 2ð.
Experimental observations are based on three
perpendicular planes with the basis vectors e1 ˆ
(1, 0, 0), e2 ˆ (0, 1, 0), e3 ˆ (0, 0, 1). For each
plane, measurements are repeated for test probes
oriented in several directions è m ˆ mð=N , m ˆ
0, 1, 2, . . ., N ÿ 1.
M(ek ) and M ij (ek ) can be computed from:
X
N ÿ1 (ij)
N m
M(e k ) ˆ 2ð (5)
mˆ0
N
X
N ÿ1 (ij)
N sin(2ðm=N )
M ij (e k ) ˆ ð m
(6)
mˆ0
N
where i, j and k are permutations of 1, 2 and 3.
STEREOLOGICAL BASED FABRIC TENSORS AND
THEIR DETERMINATION USING IMAGE ANALYSIS
Based on the analysis of Kanatani, stereology
based fabric tensors, such as the surface area
tensor Sij, mean free path tensor ëij and porosity
tensor Nij are proposed. This section discusses the
de®nitions of these stereology based fabric tensors
and their determination using imaging techniques.
The work reported herein was performed using
a Cambridge Instruments Quantimet Q570 image
analysis system (Leica Cambridge Ltd, 1991), al-
though any system of similar capabilities could
herein.
The general procedure for implementing the mea-
(1) surements with an image analyser is summarized in
 STEREOLOGY BASED FABRIC TENSORS
Fig. 1. In the image pre-processing stage the image
to be analysed is enhanced; this stage is case
speci®c, depending on the specimen illumination
and capture conditions. Details of studies of the type
described herein are given in Kuo & Frost (1995).
A critical component in any image analysis
based study of soil fabric is the quality of the
images captured. Depending on the mineralogy of
the sands, a variety of different procedures can be
used to prepare specimens for capture. These in-
clude varying the colour or opacity of the resin
used for impregnation, varying the light source
used to illuminate the specimen during capture,
and varying the surface grinding and polishing
procedures. Furthermore, images should be cap-
tured at a magni®cation such that
517
(a) if possible, a suf®cient number of particles is
contained in each image, so that multiple
images are not required to represent the dis-
tribution of particles and pore space appro-
priately
(b) any particle in the captured image is repre-
sented by an appropriate number of pixels, so
that measures such as particle area and
perimeter are reproduced in the captured image
to an acceptable resolution.
In all cases, the objective is to maximize the
contrast between the sand particles and the resin
matrix surrounding them, and to produce a pixel
image that preserves the information in the real
image to an acceptable resolution so that subsequent

Fix a Cartesian coordinate system

in the soil specimen. Prepare sections
of the soil specimen parallel to the
three different ij planes

Capture the images of the three

orthogonal planes

Image pre-processing (as required)

Binary images

Draw test probe with a given direction

θm 5 m π/N

Repeated Image processing to reveal

Repeated for
for m 5 quantities desired
all three planes
0 to N 2 1

Measured and calculated

desired quantities:
PL(θm), λ(θm) or lp(θm)

Compute M(ek )
and Mij (ek )

Compute mean fabric descriptor

(Sv, λ or n0) and
fabric tensor (Sij , λij or Nij)

Fig. 1. The general procedures used to determine fabric tensors in an image

analyser

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 518 KUO, FROST AND CHAMEAU

quantitative information derived from the captured
image is representative of the true relationship be-
tween the particles and the pore space. The proce-
dure used in the present study involved capturing
images directly from the microscope using an ultra-
violet light source on sand specimens impregnated
with an electrical resin the colour and opacity of
which had been altered by the addition of carbon
black. Images were captured at a magni®cation of
30 which resulted in approximately 120 particles in
a given image and typical particles being repre-
sented by 500 pixels or more. These procedures
yielded binary images such as the one shown in
Fig. 2, which were subsequently analyzed using the
procedures summarized below.
Surface area tensor
The orientation distribution function of Sv (ö, è),
which is de®ned as the fraction of surface area per
unit volume having a unit normal vector in the
range ö to (ö ‡ dö) and è to (è ‡ dè), can be
used as a quantitative descriptor of anisotropy. The
total surface area density Sv is obtained simply by
integrating this function over a unit sphere. Let
Sv
Sv (n) ˆ (1 ‡ S ij n i n j )
4ð
where
Sv ˆ Sv (n) dn
intercepts per unit length in a given direction
èm , PL (è m ), is a set of parallel test lines (Fig. 3).
To identify the intercepts of test lines and soil
particles, an image processing operation `outline'
is ®rst used to identify the pixels that are on the
boundary of the particles in the image. When `out-
line' is applied, only the outline (boundary pixels)
of each feature are selected, which creates a new
binary image with lines that are one pixel wide,
representing the particle perimeters (Fig. 4). The
intercepts (Fig. 5) are simply obtained by using a
logical `and' operation on the images shown in
Fig. 3 and 4. The intercept count P(èm ) then can
be obtained by counting the number of intercepts
in Fig. 5.
The total length of the test lines is obtained
from the coordinates of the two end pixels of each
(7)
(8)

and Sij is called the surface area tensor.

Based on Kanatani's (1984a, b, 1985a) analysis,
Sv and Sij can be obtained by observing PL (è m ),
the number of intersections with the surface per
unit length of test line at direction m.
The test probe for determining the number of Fig. 3. A set of parallel test lines

Fig. 2. Example image of soil fabric Fig. 4. Outline of the example image (Fig. 2)

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 STEREOLOGY BASED FABRIC TENSORS
Fig. 5. Intercepts of test lines (Fig. 3) and soil particles
of the example image (Fig. 2)
test line. For a test line with two end pixels
(x0 , y0 ) and (x1 , y1 ), the length of this test line (in
pixels) is:
: direction ë(è m ), the number and the total length of
L ˆ [(x1 ÿ x0 )2 ‡ ( y1 ÿ y0 )2 ]0 5 ‡ 1 (9)
The number of intercepts per unit length PL (è m )
is simply the ratio of the intercept count P(è m ) to
the total length of all parallel test lines TL(è m ) on
a given direction m. When all the directions of
PL (è m ) have been detemined, M(ek ) and M ij (ek )
are computed and the mean descriptor and fabric
tensor Sv and Sij determined.
Mean free path tensor
The mean free path ë between particles is a
spatial parameter of importance in a particulate
system. The mean free path ë is essentially a mean
edge-to-edge distance. It represents the uninter-
rupted interparticle distance through the matrix
averaged between all possible pairs of particles,
and gives the true three-dimensional distance be-
tween particles. The directional variation of a lin-
early measured mean free path ë(ö, è) also gives a
quantitative description of anisotropy.
The orientation distribution ë(n) is described by
the mean free path ë and the mean free path tensor
ëij :
C particles in image and percentage of image area
ë(n) ˆ (1 ‡ ë ij n i n j ) ˆ ë(1 ‡ ë ij n i n j ) (10)
4ð
The test probe for determining mean free path
tensor ë ij is also a set of parallel test lines in
a given direction è m (see Fig. 3). To determine
the mean free path tensor ë ij, the free paths be-
tween particles (Fig. 6) can be obtained by apply-
ing the logic operation `and' to the test lines (see
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519
Fig. 6. Free paths between particles of the example
image (Fig. 2) in a given direction
Fig. 3) and the inverse of the example image (see
Fig. 2).
To calculate the mean free path in a given
free paths need to be determined. The number of
free paths is obtained by measuring the feature
number parameter (which is part of the `feature
measurement' routine of the analyser) from Fig. 6.
A feature measurement routine is one that is avail-
able in all image analysis systems and contains
manufacturer and/or user designed algorithms to
measure attributes of each individual feature (parti-
cle) in an image. For example, in the system used
by the authors, the operator can select from more
than 70 parameters (e.g. area, length and perimeter
so that, when the image is analysed, a table with
values for each of these parameters for each
feature is generated. The total length of free paths
can also be obtained by measuring the `pixel num-
ber (area)' parameter of the `®eld measurement'
routine from Fig. 6. A ®eld measurement routine
is also available in all image analysis systems and
contains manufacturer and/or user designed algo-
rithms to measure attributes of the complete im-
age. For example, in the authors' system, execution
of the ®eld measurements routine results in the
generation of a table that gives quantitative meas-
ures for the complete image (e.g. number of
occupied by particles). The routine does not permit
the determination of individual feature parameters.
Since the width of all test lines (free paths) is 1
pixel, the number of total pixels of free paths is
the total length of free paths if all lines are
`straight'.
However, except for horizontal and vertical di-
rections. lines have a sawtooth appearance in a
 520 KUO, FROST AND CHAMEAU

digitized image (see Fig. 3). For a given direction
èm , the factor k(è m ), which is the ratio of the
number of pixels to the true length of lines on a
digital image, is equal or greater than 1 and should
be accounted for. This factor k(èm ) at any speci®c
directon è m can be obtained by applying `®eld
measurement' to the test lines in desired direction
(see Fig. 3) in order to obtain the total number of
pixels of the test lines and by calculating the true
length of test lines TL(è m ) as described previously.
Knowing the factor k(èm ), the total length of the
free paths is then equal to the total number of
pixels of the free paths divided by k(è m ). When all
the directions of ë(è m ) have been determined,
M(ek ) and M ij (ek ) can be computed, and the mean
free path ë and mean free path tensor ë ij calcu-
lated.
porosities of an image with different sizes of
square measure frame. For the image in Fig. 2, the
measured porosities with different size of measure
frame are shown in Fig. 7. It can be seen that the
measured porosities become stable after the mea-
sure frame is larger than about 50 3 50 pixels.
Based on this information, the radius of the inner
REC(r1 ) and the outer REC(r2 ) were selected as
40 pixels
p and 230 pixels, respectively, (see Fig. 8,
r1 > ( 2=2)w1 and r2 < 0:5 w2, w1 ˆ 50 pixels
and w2 ˆ 480 pixels) so that the measured poros-
ities were stable within the region between the two
RECs. Note that this value is related to the size of
the particles in the image, and thus should be
w2

Porosity tensor
The orientation distribution function of N (ö, è),
(which is de®ned as the porosity, i.e. the void
volume/total volume ratio) of the volume element
in the orientation range ö to (ö ‡ dö) and è to
(è ‡ dè) can also be used for quantitative descrip-
tion of anisotropy. This function is described by r1
the porosity of the specimen n0 and the porosity r2
tensor Nij : w1

N (n) ˆ n0 (1 ‡ N ij n i n j ) (11)
The linear fraction of void lp (ö, è) is used as
an estimator of volume fraction of void (porosity)
N (ö, è), and the test probe is a test line within the
region between two representative element circles
(RECs) in a given direction è m (Kuo & Frost,
1993). The concept of RECs is used to de®ne a
measurement region such that the parameters of Fig. 8. Use of square measure frame to determine the
interest are relatively constant (stable) within that inner and outer radius of stable representative
region. A program was written to measure the element circles

0.6

0.5

0.4
Porosity

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
0

30

60

90

120

150

180

210

240

270

300

330

360

390

420

450

Width of measure frame

Fig. 7. Measured porosities with different size of measure frame for the
example image (Fig. 2)

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 STEREOLOGY BASED FABRIC TENSORS
computed for each experimental con®guration. This
issue is discussed further later in this paper. The
test line within the region between the two RECs
in a given direction èm is shown in Fig. 9.
To determine the porosity tensor Nij, the por-
tions of the test line occupied by voids lp (è m ) (Fig.
10) can easily be obtained by applying a logical
`and' operator to the test probe and the inversion
of the example image. The fraction of the test line
occupied by voids lp (è m ) can be determined by the
ratio of the number of pixels measured when `®eld
measurement' is applied to the test line (see Fig.
9) and the portions of the test line occupied by
voids (see Fig. 10). When all the distribution of
Fig. 9. Test line used in a given direction for
determining the porosity tensor
Fig. 10. The portions of the test line occupied by void
l p (è m )
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521
lp (è m ) has been computed, M(ek ) and M ij (ek ) can
be computed and the mean descriptor n0 and fabric
tensor Nij determined.
Similarly, if only a single plane section is avail-
able, the two-dimensional tensors for the length
Lij , mean free path ëij and area fraction Aij can
also be obtained, by measuring the distributions of
the intercept density PL (èm ), mean free path ë(è m )
and linear fraction lp (èm ) respectively.
The imaging implementation of measurement
techniques for determining stereology based fabric
tensors described above was programmed using the
Q570 image analysis system built-in Basic-like
Macro-language (QBASIC). The codes are given in
Kuo & Frost (1995).
ILLUSTRATION OF THE TECHNIQUES
Applications to two-dimensional tensors
For the binary image shown in Fig. 2, the result-
ing mean fabric descriptors and fabric tensors
using the measurement techniques described above
are
 
ÿ0:0092 ÿ0:0075
LA ˆ 0:067=pixel; Lij ˆ
ÿ0:0075 0:0092
(12)
 
ÿ0:0054 0:0032
ë ˆ 23:905 pixel; ë ij ˆ
0:0032 0:0054
(13)
and
 
0:0316 0:0440
AA ˆ 0:478; A ij ˆ
0:0440 ÿ0:0316
(14)
The results of `®eld measurement' of the binary
image (see Fig. 2) show that the area fraction of
voids is 0´489. It is evident that the proposed
measurement technique gives a very good approx-
imation of the area fraction of void. This is 0´478
measured using the stereology based method, ver-
sus the value of 0´489 obtained directly from the
®eld measurement. Similarly, the total length per
unit area LA can be obtained from the results of
`®eld measurement' as perimeter/frame area, which
is 0´065/pixel. The proposed stereological measure-
ment technique estimates the value of LA as 0´067/
pixel, which again agrees closely with the value
obtained from `®eld measurement'.
The results of `®eld measurement' offer an in-
dependent check of the proposed measurement
techniques. The good agreement between the re-
sults of the proposed measurement techniques and
the `®eld measurements' supports the correctness
of the measurement techniques and their imple-
mentation.
 522 KUO, FROST AND CHAMEAU

Applications to three-dimensional tensors

For images from three orthogonal planes (Figs
11±13), the surface area density and surface area
tensor are
Sv ˆ 0:1545=pixel;
2 3
0:3430 0:0180 0:0331
S ij ˆ 4 0:0180 ÿ0:1654 0:0164 5 (15)
0:0331 0:0164 ÿ0:1776

the mean free path and mean free path tensor are
ë ˆ 8:88 pixels;
2 3
ÿ0:1314 ÿ0:0120 0:0111
ë ij ˆ 4 ÿ0:0120 0:1110 ÿ0:0062 5 (16)
0:0111 ÿ0:0062 0:0205

Fig. 13. Example binary image of plane 3±1

and the porosity and porosity tensor are

n0 ˆ 0:362;
2 3
0:0087 0:0494 ÿ0:0591
N ij ˆ 4 0:0494 0:0392 0:0479 5 (17)
ÿ0:0591 0:0479 ÿ0:0479

The calibration factor for the images shown in

Fig. 11. Example binary image of plane 1±2
Figs 11±13 is 0:025 mm=pixel. Thus the surface
area density Sv is 6:18=mm, the mean free path ë
is 0:222 mm and the porosity n0 is 0:362. The
estimated porosity (0´362) agrees well with the
global specimen porosity (0´366).
Theoretically, there are interrelationships be-
tween the surface area density Sv, the mean free
path ë and the porosity n0. It can be shown
(Underwood, 1970) that
4n0
ëˆ (18)
Sv
Using equation (18) for n0 ˆ 0:362 and Sv ˆ
6:18=mm, ë is 0´234 mm, which agrees well with
the value of 0:222 mm obtained with the proposed
procedure.

Fig. 12. Example binary image of plane 2±3
DISCUSSION
The surface area density Sv, mean free path ë
and porosity n0 are physical properties of materials
that possess real physical meaning. It has been
shown in this paper that Sv , ë and n0 and their
corresponding fabric tensors can be obtained from
the distributions of measurable quantities (the inter-
cept density PL (èm ), mean free path ë(èm ) and
linear fraction lp (èm ), respectively). Sv , ë and n0
and their corresponding fabric tensors are impor-
tant structural parameters in practice. The beha-
viour of soils is closely related to these parameters.

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 STEREOLOGY BASED FABRIC TENSORS
For example, by knowing the surface area and
porosity, the permeability can be estimated from
the Kozeny±Carman relation. Berryman & Blair
(1987) have utilized the Kozeny±Carman relation
to estimate the permeability of porous materials,
where the porosity and speci®c surface area are
provided from image analysis measurements.
As shown by equation (18), there are interrela-
tionships between Sv , ë and n0, so only two
independent parameters exist among these three.
Similarly, there are some interrelationships between
the surface area tensor, mean free path tensor and
porosity tensor. Among these three tensors, any
two are expected to be independent. Thus, to
quantify the anisotropy of the material fully, at
least two such fabric tensors may be needed.
The eigenvalues of the fabric tensor indicate the
degree of anisotropy, and the corresponding princi-
pal axes show the principal directions of these
distribution functions. Muhunthan (1991) proposed
the use of the second invariant J 2 of the fabric
tensor øij as a fabric parameter J f :
J f ˆ J 2 ˆ 16[(ø11 ÿ ø22 )2
‡ (ø22 ÿ ø33 )2 ‡ (ø33 ÿ ø11 )2 ]
‡ ø212 ‡ ø223 ‡ ø231 (19)
Sensitivity study
For the illustrations described above, the test set
(see Fig. 3) had an interline spacing of 10 pixels
and was rotated for every 108 of orientation. Ana-
lyses have been conducted (Kuo & Frost, 1995) to
evaluate the sensitivity of the proposed methods to
different line spacing and orientation increments.
In these analyses, the mean descriptors (mean free
path and surface area density) and the second
invariant of the fabric tensor J f (corresponding to
different line spacing and orientation increments)
were examined for two different images. It was
found that, for an interline spacing of 10 pixels,
the measured mean descriptors and the fabric para-
meter J f were stable when orientation increments
were small (< 20 degrees for the slighty anisotro-
pic image and < 10 degrees for the strongly
anistropic image).
The effect of the increment of orientation on the
measured area fraction and the area fraction tensor
(or porosity and porosity tensor for three-dimen-
sions) was also examined. Current measurements
are based on a 58 increment for the orientation.
Kuo & Frost (1995) show that the increment of
orientation should be less than or equal to 108 if a
reasonable estimate of the area fraction and the
associated fabric tensor are to be obtained.
The analyses (Kuo & Frost, 1995) show that the
current default values for the line spacing and
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523
orientation increment are adequate. However, the
appropriate setting of line spacing and orientation
increment is case dependent. Since the determina-
tions of the mean fabric descriptor and its asso-
ciated tensor can be performed ef®ciently using an
image analysis system (in less than 3 min with
current spacing and orientation values), it is recom-
mended that these defaults be veri®ed routinely
when studies are being performed on different
materials (or when image variables such as magni-
®cation are changed), to ensure that the resulting
measurements are unaffected by the test parameters
chosen.
Generality of methodology
The formulations for the fabric tensors intro-
duced in this paper are based on the principle of
stereology. The attraction of these proposed stereol-
ogy based fabric tensors is that there are no
assumptions about the shape or size of the particles
or voids. Thus, the methods developed here can
generally be applied to any materials of interest.
Even though the illustrations of the methods are
for sandy materials, the methods can also be ap-
plied to, for example, clayey soils or cracks in
rocks.
Practical implications and limitations
In general, in order to formulate the fabric
tensor in three dimensions, three orthogonal planes
are needed. However, if axial symmetry is as-
sumed, only one horizontal and one vertical plane
are required. Oda & Nakayama (1989) reported
that the axial symmetry characteristic is common
in arti®cially deposited sands but is absent in many
undisturbed natural sands. They attributed this to
the depositional enviroment, where water (or air)
¯ow at the time of sedimentation may have an
effect on the particle orientation.
In obtaining the surface area density and surface
area tensor or mean free path and mean free path
tensor from three orthogonal planes, it is crucial to
know the magni®cation and to keep the same
magni®cation for each plane observed. For porosity
and the porosity tensor, as the quantities examined
are dimensionless, it is not necessary to know the
magni®cation. The magni®cations of the three
planes observed can also be slighty different. Of
course, keeping the same magni®cation is prefer-
able.
The measurements of the distribution of porosity
at different frame widths provide guidelines for
selecting a suitable sample size for analysing por-
osity and porosity tensors. It is desirable that the
radius of the inner REC(r1 ) is smaller than one-
third of that of the outer REC(r2 ) so that over 90%
of the area inside the outer REC is analysed. For
 524 KUO, FROST AND CHAMEAU

the maximum image size of many analysers CONCLUSION

(512 3 512 pixels), it is desirable to have the
radius of the outer REC(r2 ) as large as possible
(230 or 240 pixels). Thus, the radius of the inner
REC(r1 ) should be kept smaller than 80 pixels if
possible. If the distribution of porosity does not
stabilize at frame widths of up to 110 pixels, it is
likely that the sample size may be too small.
Decreasing the magni®cation and observing larger
sample sizes will allow the porosity distribution to
become stable within a frame width of 110 pixels.
An image of insuf®cient sample size such that the
porosity distribution is not stable within a frame
width of 110 pixels and thus is not suitable for
analysis of the porosity and porosity tensor at the
applied magni®cation, is shown in Fig. 14.
On the basis of Kanatani's analysis, stereology
based fabric tensors such as a surface area tensors
Sij , a mean free path tensor ë ij and a porosity
tensor Nij can be determined experimentally from
microscopic observations. Those measurement
techniques were implemented using an automated
image analysis system. Computer algorithms were
developed to permit the determination of mean
fabric descriptors and their associated tensors ef®-
ciently by using image analysis techniques.
Furthermore, the attraction of these proposed
stereology based fabric tensors is that there are no
assumptions about the shape or size of particles
and voids. Thus, the methods described here can
generally apply to other materials.

(a)

0.3

0.25

0.2
Porosity

0.15

0.1

0.05

0
0

30

60

90

120

150

180

210

240

270

300

330

360

390

420

450

Width of measure frame

(b)

Fig. 14. (a) An image of insuf®cient sample size and (b) the computed porosity
as a function of the width of the measure frame.

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 STEREOLOGY BASED FABRIC TENSORS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The work reported in this paper was supported
by National Science Foundation Grant Nos MSS-
9011232, MSS-9007581 and BCS-9304897. This
support is gratefully acknowledged.
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