Abstract
A computational method is described for the generation of virtual air pores with randomized features in granular materials. The method is based on the creation of a stack of two dimensional stochastically generated domains of packed virtual aggregate particles that are converted to three dimensions and made to intersected with one another. The three dimensional structure that is created is then sampled with an algorithm that detects the void space left between the intersected particles, which corresponds to the air void volume in real materials. This allows the generation of a map of the previously generated three dimensional model that can be used to analyse the topology of the void channels. The isotropy of the samples is here discussed and analysed. The air void size distribution in all the virtual samples generated in this study is described with the Weibull distribution and the goodness of fit is successfully evaluated with the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test. The specific surface of the virtual samples is also successfully compared to that of real samples. The results show that a stochastic approach to the generation of virtual granular materials based only on geometric principles is feasible and provides realistic results.
Highlights
The study of porosity in granular materials is important to understand the behaviour of a number of physi-manual trial and error method
We describe the automation of the mathematical method presented in [6] and analyse the void patterns that it generates, providing topological information on the virtual samples that are created in terms of isotropy and coordination number
In order to analyse the size of the air voids two approaches can be followed: the first one is the use of the maximal ball (MB) algorithm mentioned in [24] and involves the growth of particles in the void space in order to estimate their maximum size and their coordination number, while the second one consists in the actual reconstruction of the void channels
Summary
We describe the automation of the mathematical method presented in [6] and analyse the void patterns that it generates, providing topological information on the virtual samples that are created in terms of isotropy and coordination number. The void size distribution of the virtual porous media is analysed. The main aim of this paper is providing a first validation of this newly developed model for the generation of air pores in granular materials by comparing the virtual air voids to the air voids found in real samples
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