Application of digital image processing for automatic detection and characterization of cracked constituent particles/inclusions in wrought aluminum alloys

Application of digital image processing is presented for automatic detection and segmentation of cracked iron-rich constituent particles in a hot-rolled wrought Al-alloy where the particle cracks are generated due to monotonic uniaxial tensile loading. Particle cracks (and therefore, cracked particles) with width of 0.5 µm or larger can be detected and segmented. The method is designed for detection of particle cracks generated during tensile testing, and not the particle cracks generated during the thermo-mechanical processing steps such as hot-rolling. The automatic segmentation of cracked iron-rich constituent particles enables robust estimation of second order microstructural descriptors such as nearest neighbor distribution and two-point correlation function of the cracked particles. Such data are very useful to verify and study the theoretical models for damage evolution and fracture in wrought Al-alloys.