Determination of Crack and Buckle Density by Digital Image Analysis

Determination of density and distance distribution of line-shaped features such as coating cracks

The motivation for developing this analytical program originates from research work done on the failure processes of thin brittle films during uniaxial tensile testing. The aim was to study the crack and buckle density of the coatings as a function of the applied strain by digital analysis of scanning electron or light microscope images. Those experiments usually involve creation of a large number of images, which need to be processed in a reasonable amount of time. Therefore, an efficient analysis procedure combined with automatized features is mandatory.

Although this program has been developed to determine the crack and buckle density during successive failure of thin brittle films, it is in principle capable of determining the density of any oriented and line-shaped feature giving rise to intensity contrast. A line pattern, which is either horizontally or vertically oriented, is superimposed to the images. The intersections between the lines and the cracks or buckles are identified by determining local minima of the intensity profile along each line. Based on the coordinates of the intersections, both the mean density and the cumulative distance distribution of the observed features are calculated.

Due to its graphical user interface and straightforward operability, the program is also suitable for users without background knowledge of MATLAB. Thus, it provides a platform for the efficient analysis of the fragmentation and buckling behavior of thin brittle films.

See the documentation file for a detailed description of the program.