Assessing the role of particle shape and scale in abrasion using ‘sharpness analysis’: Part I. Technique development

The classical Euclidean paradigm of shape imposes false order and diverts our attention from the true complexity of nature. Fortunately, objects exhibiting solitary randomness coalesce en masse to produce outcomes with semblance of order. Particulate abrasion is one such example; each particle is unique, yet in large numbers, average behaviour emerges that is representative of the population of derivation. This work specifically investigates the role of particle shape and scale in abrasion. Existing characterisation techniques are appraised and the concepts of shape and scale are developed into definitions that are useful for the solution of the particle characterisation problem. The notion of sharpness is synthesised and then integrated into a new technique called sharpness analysis. The first of two parts, this paper provides a detailed description of sharpness analysis and its application to groups of particles. The resulting groove functions give a representation of particle shape that takes into consideration the penetration of the particles into a wearing surface.