Fitting the void: Data boundaries, point distributions and strain analysis

An objective method is developed for identifying the shape of the void generated by analysis of the spatial arrangement of point distributions using the Fry method and in particular Delaunay triangulation nearest neighbour data. The method works by numerically minimising a weighted non-linear least-squares formulation which tends to selectively apply higher weights to points below the boundary and less weight to points above the boundary. Sampling errors are estimated using a bootstrap procedure. A simulation study indicates that the method works best for closely packed object arrangements and tends to underestimate the strain axial ratio at high imposed strains. Overall the method is found to be objective and consistent.