In materialography, automated image analysis most often refers to digital quantitative evaluation of a microstructure image.
Quantitative measurements are typically length, width, and area, and are used for the evaluation of materialographic characteristics such as grain size, inclusions, layers, and phases or other constituents.
Digitalization of images enables the handling of high volumes of data, in order to ensure a statistical basis.
Software automation eliminates the time-consuming process of manual identification, counting, or comparison. This can be facilitated, principally, in two different ways:
Choosing a representative specimen that includes the information of interest
Ensuring an artifact free surface which will not disturb the automatic image analyses systems
Enhance contrast and ensure focus
Transforming the analog live image into a digitalized capture
Remove disturbing information – improve image with software filters to improve contrast, for example
Output from the complete analysis process
