A Novel Economical Method of Determining the Geometric Characteristic of the Metal Foam Based on Image Analysis

Abstract

The presented paper deals with the metal foams, which have a wide application potential ranging from power engineering, through catalysts to impact energy absorbers. The main aim of the paper is to propose an economical non-destructive method of determining the basic characteristics and dimensions using affordable devices. The basic principle of the proposed method lies in the image capture of metal foam and their subsequent analysis in image analysis software. An important element of the work is a comparison of results obtained by the proposed method with results obtained by high-resolution X-ray microtomography. The proposed method was evaluated in terms of measurement uncertainty and propagation of error in overall results. The use of the method is limited to the metal foams, characterized by an ordered structure, which are produced mainly by the electrophoretic deposition process. Based on the descriptive statistical analysis of results, it is possible to state, that the proposed method is in great agreement with accurate, but more expensive high-resolution X-ray microtomography.