Low Level Image Processing for Composites

Composites have brought many technological advances, due to their extraordinary properties, different from those of their constituents. That is what makes composites so interesting, but also so complex. Not only the volume fractions of the constituents define the result, but also their arrangement. Size, shape, structure, all govern the response of composites to mechanical, chemical, and electrical influences. Numerical modeling provides a framework to characterize and design new composites. Image processing is not only able to provide the raw battlefield on which numerical models evolve, but is also a toolbox for solving them. Non destructive testing maps models to and from reality. It should be no surprise that computer vision is able to provide powerful tools for analysis at both sides. The reader is invited to enter this rich and quickly evolving field and discover its potential for application to numerical modeling. This book tries to convey two notions: image processing as a toolbox for numerical modeling, and insight into two such tools and how to use them in numerical modeling. It should be of interest to practitioners of composite characterization and numerical modeling.