Statistical characterization of TEM images of silica-filled rubber

Transmission electron microscopy is used to study the micro-dispersion of silica fillers within the polymer matrix of rubber. The resulting grey-value images are interpreted as realizations of random fields and are characterized by means of variograms. The so-called Cauchy class is a suitable model for this purpose. Statistical analysis shows that different filler dispersion properties are reflected in different variogram parameters. As a case study, the random field approach is demonstrated for four exemplary rubber compounds.