Two-dimensional wavelet flocculation analysis of fibre suspensions and paper sheets

An image analysis method is described, based on a two-dimensional continuous wavelet transform, for the study of fibre Suspension flocculation. Images of a fibre Suspension are cross-correlated with two-dimensional Mexican hat wavelets. The inner fibre floc structure information can be obtained by comparing the signals after the transforms using different scales of the two-dimensional Mexican hat wavelets. Centres of fibre floes can be obtained by finding the local maximum signal peaks in the transform. Simulated floes images and real fibre suspension images are analysed with the wavelet transform as well as quantification of sheet structure in paper sheets. Some applications of this image analysis method are also discussed.