| Abstract: | When interfacial layers are viewed as a separate phase, the interface thickness plays an essential role in assessing physico-mechanical properties of particulate materials. However, the interface thickness from sectional analysis is often overestimated, due to the irregularity of surface textures of grains in opaque materials that gives rise to the normal of a cross-sectional plane non-perpendicular to the surface of grains. Hence, the determination of the overestimation degree is very critical to precisely obtain the interface thickness. This article develops a numerical model for the overestimation degree of the interface thickness around an ellipsoidal grain with an arbitrary aspect ratio, by applying an accurate sectional analysis algorithm, and quantitative stereology and geometrical probability theories. Furthermore, on the basis of the developed numerical model, the influence of ellipsoidal particle shape on the overestimation degree is quantitatively characterized. |
