Semi-automatic crack width measurement using an OrthoBoundary algorithm: Fid-Bau Portal

Semi-automatic crack width measurement using an OrthoBoundary algorithm

Li, Zhe / Miao, Yi / Torbaghan, Mehran Eskandari / Zhang, Hongfei / Zhang, Jiupeng

Abstract Evaluation of pavements' crack severity levels currently relies heavily on width measurement, which necessitates the development of a rapid, and high-accurate, automatic measurement approach for complex pavement cracks. This paper presents an OrthoBoundary algorithm that leverages the crack boundary and skeleton directions to determine crack propagation. Comparative analysis has been conducted between OrthoBoundary and Area-Length, Skeleton Shortest Distance (SSD), Edge Shortest Distance (ESD), and Orthogonal Projection (OP) methods. Results indicate that the OrthoBoundary algorithm achieves an average accuracy of 90.10%, outperforming the Area-Length (86.60%), SSD (76.01%), ESD (87.24%), and OP (88.07%) methods. Notably, the OrthoBoundary algorithm also exhibits processing speeds approximately 120 times faster than other considered methods while demonstrating improved robustness and user-friendliness. It has significant potential to quantify and assess the severity of pavement cracks, as well as to facilitate maintenance decision-making processes in road infrastructure management systems.

Highlights • Proposed a semi-automated cracks measurement method. • OrthoBoundary algorithm outperformed other algorithms with an average of 90.10% prediction accuracy. • OrthoBoundary algorithm performed 120 times faster than SSD, ESD, and OP algorithms. • OrthoBoundary algorithm proved to be more robust and user-friendly for inexperienced users. • OrthoBoundary algorithm is highly compatible with other crack binarization procedures.