Detecting anomalies in fibre systems using 3-dimensional image data

We consider the problem of detecting anomalies in the directional distribution of fibre materials observed in 3D images. We divide the image into a set of scanning windows and classify them into two clusters: homogeneous material and anomaly. Based on a sample of estimated local fibre directions, for each scanning window we compute several classification attributes, namely the coordinate wise means of local fibre directions, the entropy of the directional distribution, and a combination of them. We also propose a new spatial modification of the Stochastic Approximation Expectation-Maximization (SAEM) algorithm. Besides the clustering we also consider testing the significance of anomalies. To this end, we apply a change point technique for random fields and derive the exact inequalities for tail probabilities of a test statistic. The proposed methodology is first validated on simulated images. Finally, it is applied to a 3D image of a fibre reinforced polymer.