METHODOLOGY FOR AUTOMATED APPROACH IN DETERMINING THE ROCK QUALITY DESIGNATION (RQD) INDEX FROM DRILL CORE PHOTOGRAPHS

Abstract

In this research, a methodology for processing drill cores photographs is proposed. Based on properly taken photographs of the drill cores and through their automatic processing in a specially made macro command, all discontinuities (cracks) were identified from the surface of the drill cores. The results obtained in the form of detected cracks further serve to determine the Rock Quality Designation (RQD). The automatically measured values of the distance between the cracks were compared with manual measurements and they showed a huge similarity. The advantage of the proposed model in the form of a macro command is that it is made in software with open-source license ImageJ. The proposed methodology in this paper, through experimental tests, proved to be very effective in cases where it is necessary to process large lengths of drill cores for which the RQD index is needed to be determined.