Numerical simulations of stereological bias in particles with simple texture

•We propose a numerical model for randomly textured binary-phased particles.•Mixed-phase and phase-liberated particles can be successfully modeled.•Stereological bias of core phase increases with increasing core phase size.•Stereological bias of matrix phase is a concave-down function of phase content.•Fractal dimension of image intensity can be used for stereological bias modeling.

Stereological bias, which defines the overestimated degree of phase liberation in 2D measurements, is an important phenomenon in liberation evaluations of breakage products and yet remains insufficiently clarified. A proper liberation-evaluation method would greatly advance the field of mining. Here, we develop a novel numerical simulation using the Discrete Element Method (DEM), which models particles with random texture, including the mixed-phase and phase-liberated particles, and quantifies the stereological bias by comparing the cross-sectional measurement of the granular sample with the 3D information. The stereological bias was found to be affected by fractal dimension of the image intensity of particle sectional texture, which is easily obtained via 2D measurements and following image analysis of the cutting plane of the sample. Therefore, this factor is a potentially useful indicator in stereological bias modeling.

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