Study on tortuosity from 3D images of nuclear graphite grades IG-110 by Dijkstra's algorithm and fast marching algorithm

The nuclear-grade graphite is a kind of granular material, and tortuosity is a key parameter to predict its performance. However, there are few research about analyzing the tortuosity of nuclear graphite materials. In this study, two methods were employed to calculate the tortuosity of graphite grades IG-110. In the first method, the X-ray computed tomography (X-CT) images were transferred into binary ones using three different threshold segmentation algorithms separately, and then the tortuosity was calculated by the Dijkstra's algorithm. In the second method, the tortuosity was calculated by fast marching algorithm based on the grayscale images, in which some characters are intensified. The results indicate that the Dijkstra's algorithm and fast marching algorithm, which are frequently used for tortuosity in other fields, can also be applied to graphite grades IG-110. Overall, it is expected that this work may provide insight on the tortuosity analysis of similar particulate materials.