Microstructural sensitivity of local porosity distributions

The recently introduced concept of local porosity distributions for the geometric characterization of arbitrary porous media is scrutinized using computer generated pore space images. The paper presents the first direct determination of local porosity distributions from digital images. Pore space images with identical two point correlation functions are employed to analyse the geometrical sensitivity of the local porosity concept. The main finding is that local distributions can be used to discriminate between images which are indistinguishable using standard correlation functions. We also discuss the question of length scales associated with the local porosity concept.