Virtual Reality visualization for short fibre orientation analysis

The paper investigates the beneficial contribution of visual feedback in the development of an algorithm for the automatized analysis of fibre orientations in short fibre reinforced composites. Of special interest was steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC), a multi-disciplinary research area involving material sciences, physics and civil engineering. More in detail, this paper explains how scientific visualization techniques, employed on a Virtual Reality environment, contribute to the understanding of the SFRC properties, both for research and educational aims. Furthermore, the analysis algorithm to obtain fibre orientation distributions from noisy tomography scans is presented.