Rock Fracture Centerline Extraction based on Hessian Matrix and Steger algorithm

The rock fracture detection by image analysis is significant for fracture measurement and assessment engineering. The paper proposes a novel image segmentation algorithm for the centerline tracing of a rock fracture based on Hessian Matrix at Multi-scales and Steger algorithm. A traditional fracture detection method, which does edge detection first, then makes image binarization, and finally performs noise removal and fracture gap linking, is difficult for images of rough rock surfaces. To overcome the problem, the new algorithm extracts the centerlines directly from a gray level image. It includes three steps: (1) Hessian Matrix and Frangi filter are adopted to enhance the curvilinear structures, then after image binarization, the spurious-fractures and noise are removed by synthesizing the area, circularity and rectangularity; (2) On the binary image, Steger algorithm is used to detect fracture centerline points, then the centerline points or segments are linked according to the gap distance and the angle differences; and (3) Based on the above centerline detection roughly, the centerline points are searched in the original image in a local window along the direction perpendicular to the normal of the centerline, then these points are linked. A number of rock fracture images have been tested, and the testing results show that compared to other traditional algorithms, the proposed algorithm can extract rock fracture centerlines accurately.