In this proposal the PI seeks an image analysis system with associated software for automatic analysis of images of various liquid-liquid and solid in liquid particulate dispersions. In several outlined related projects the image analysis will include the analysis of size and shape of particles, fractal structure of the dispersion, particularly near the point of complete coalescence or phase inversion, and so on. Such analysis will be crucial input to a theoretical framework which seeks to use fractal-theories concepts in conjunction with scaling ideas to characterize the behavior of dense coalescing dispersions, and address the problem of has inversion. In a second project the image analysis of polymer particles is designed to investigate the effectiveness of a novel technique of preparing non-spherical polymer particles of precisely controlled sizes and shapes for a variety of fundamental and practical applications. The proposed image analysis system with its capability for automatic analysis meets most adequately the requirements of fast image processing of large volumes of images obtained photographically and by a video recorder in our research. It also facilities direct transmission of data to a mainframe computer for the data processing required for the solution of critical inverse problems.
