Analysis of electroperforated materials using the quadrat counts method

Abstract

The electroperforation distribution in thin porous materials is investigated using the quadrat counts method (QCM), a classical statistical technique aimed to evaluate the deviation from complete spatial randomness (CSR). Perforations are created by means of electrical discharges generated by needle-like tungsten electrodes. The objective of perforating a thin porous material is to enhance its air permeability, a critical issue in many industrial applications involving paper, plastics, textiles, etc. Using image analysis techniques and specialized statistical software it is shown that the perforation locations follow, beyond a certain length scale, a homogeneous 2D Poisson distribution.

Detection and characterization of the spatial inhibition potential in electroperforated sheet materials

“…This sort of short range repulsion effect between holes can be quantified in terms of the so called inhibition potential. In a previous work [5], we also call the attention on this interpoint interaction and therein the hole distribution was assessed using the quadrat counts method in combination with the Morishita index. On that occasion, it was demonstrated that conclusions drawn from interpoint analysis can be largely affected by the choice of the quadrat size, which is an undesirable feature from the statistical viewpoint.…”