Multi-Scale Analysis of Area Fractions Characterization GUI

Characterizes a binary microstructure using the multi-scale analysis of area fractions technique.

This GUI was built as a user-friendly tool that augments several journal papers on the MSAAF technique and microstructure characterization. Please forward any criticisms with the software directly to me and I will do my best to address these in later revisions. Thank you!

When assessing structure-property relationships for various materials, it is often necessary to define a representative length scale or volume element for characterization or simulation. The Multi-Scale Analysis of Area Fractions (MSAAF) technique characterizes the representative length scale of a two-phase microstructure (1). This technique can be applied in an isotropic form and a directional form; the directional form is used to assess the directional dependence of the length scale of the underlying microstructure. The directional form of the MSAAF technique has recently been applied to synthetic microstructures with second phase particles of varying area fraction, aspect ratio, and alignment (2). Additionally, the directional form has been modified such that it can be applied to any vector within the 2D microstructure image, i.e., the vector MSAAF technique (3). A visual representation of the vector MSAAF results has been used to show the change in the directional length scale as a function of the orientation of the vector.

This MATLAB GUI script was developed as a computationally- efficient tool for researchers that will employ the various MSAAF techniques for two-phase microstructures with little knowledge of the MATLAB programming required to obtain the results. For further information on the techniques or if you have comments, please contact Mark Tschopp at [e-mail].

References:
(1) Spowart, Maruyama, Miracle, “Multi-Scale characterization of spatially heterogeneous systems: Implications for discontinuously reinforced metal matrix composite microstructures,” Materials Science & Engineering A 307 (2001) 51-66.
(2) Tschopp, Wilks, Spowart, “Multi-Scale Characterization of Orthotropic Microstructures,” MSMSE 16 (2008) 065009.
(3) Wilks, Tschopp, Spowart, “Multi-Scale Characterization of Inhomogeneous Morphologically Textured Microstructures” (2009) in preparation.