Scope and Significance
Particulate materials manufactures use daily particle size distribution estimation methods (such as sieving and laser diffraction). In the last decade, 2D static and dynamic image analysis tools have become increasingly widespread among the industry and scientific research. These techniques allow more than the analysis of particle size; they also give access to particle shape. The need for standard size and shape parameters for particle characterization is obvious, and it is important to draw the attention of the end user to a few important aspects of image analysis results: image resolution, comparison of results from different particle size ranges, pertinence of the used size and shape parameters, etc.
In this work, a discussion of existing size and shape parameters is carried out, and new parameters have been defined for 2D, as well as for 3D image analysis. Also, these parameters were used to investigate the relations between particle shape and particle size distribution results, and physical properties of powders.