Multifractal characteristics of the self-assembly material texture of β-Si3N4/SUS316L austenitic stainless steel composites

The multifractal dimension Dq of β-Si3N4 agglomerates in β-Si3N4/316 L stainless steel (SUS316L) composites was measured. In addition to capacity dimension D0 related to the morphology of β-Si3N4 agglomerates, information dimension D1 for theses samples was related to the entropy of configuration affected by the dispersion of β-Si3N4 particles was confirmed, and the correlation dimension D2 reflected the connectivity between the particles. The obtained results showed that the multifractal dimensions Dq (q = 0, 1, and 2) were effective as indices for evaluating the morphology, arrangement, and connectivity (or dispersibility) of dispersed particles in solid state reaction, and suggested a new method of quantitative stereology.