A comparative study of image segmentation methods for micromechanical simulations of ductile damage

The influence of image segmentation on micromechanical simulations of ductile damage in nodular graphite cast iron coupled with 3D imaging is explored for two tensile specimens. Three different approaches are used to segment the microstructures from laminography data. These microstructures are immersed in a finite element mesh and simulations with experimental boundary conditions are carried out for each of the three segmentation techniques. The sensitivity of local and global mechanical quantities is assessed based on the results of these simulations. The comparison between the employed techniques is then used to estimate the uncertainty associated with the image segmentation stage.