Characterization of structures of particles

A methodology for the characterization of particle structures, especially networks, is developed. This scheme combines 3D image analysis techniques with graph theory tools for the simplification of a structure of thick agglomerates to its skeleton. The connectivity graph of the initial structure is compared with the one of the corresponding skeleton, as a measure of simplification. Examples are used to illustrate the effectiveness of our scheme. Particle structures obtained by Brownian Dynamics simulations are characterized qualitatively and quantitatively. Instead of looking at the characteristics of the structure at the level of the individual particles or neighborhoods of particles, our scheme results in quantitative measures of the network, e.g. the number density of branch-points, the degree of branch-points, and the thickness and the orientation of the branches.