JOURNAL OF SEDIMENTARY PETROLOGY,VOL. 26, NO. 1, PP.

15-31
Fins. 1 9, MARCH, 1956

A NEW METHOD OF EXPRESSING PARTICLE SPHERICITY'

BERT C. ASCHENBRENNER 2
Dallas, Texas

ABSTRACT
For a more complete characterization of the shape of sedimentary particles, a method for
tridimensional shape analysis is described. It is proposed to return to Wadell's original definition
of sphericity, i.e., the degree of true sphericity, as the basis for the quantitative description of
shape, llowever, instead of analyzing each grain form as such, the shape is approximated by a
tetrakaldekahedron which is defined by three mutually perpendicular particle dimensions.
Using these measured dimensions and the geometric characteristics of the tetrakaidekahedron,
the shape of particles can be defined simultaneously in terms of Wadell's sphericity and Zingg's
shape factor. An expression is derived for approximating the degree of true sphericity of sedl-
mentary particles. It is shown that the use of this expression as the "working sphericity" seems
to lm jnstiiied and may be considered an hnprovement over other approximations. An example
of the workability of the technique is given by the tridimensional shape analysis of the compo-
nent grains of a sample of Woodbine sandstone. It is thought that the method described can be
(}f use hi many phases of stratigraphie and sedimentary research.

INTRODUCTION recognition and acceptance as Wadell's

Together with size, surface texture,
and mineralogical composition, shape is
recognized as one of the fundamental
properties of sedimentary particles. The
shapes of component grains of a sediment
express part of the sedimentary history
and are related to porosity and perme-
ability.
As early as 1880 Sorbv developed a
classification of sand grains which in-
volved the concept of shape. In 1919
Wentworth introduced the first quantita-
tive system for measuring the shapes of
sedimentary particles. Suhsequently sev-
eral quantitative methods for expressing
shape were evolved by Cox (1927).
Hagerman (1933), iKrumbein (1941),
Pentland (1927), Tickell (1941), Wadell
(1932, 1933. 1935), Wentworth (1919.
1922, 1922a), and Zingg (1935), among
others.
Of the various definitions of shape
none seems to have found such wide
LBased on a portion of a thesis submitted
to the Graduate School, Southern Methodist
University, Dallas, Texas, in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of Master
of Science, August 1954.
Now with The Atlantic Refining Com-
pany, Dallas, Texas.
concept of sphericity (Wadell, 1932),
which can be expressed as
S~
¢=--
Sr
where
- degree of true sphericity
S p = s u r f a c e area of the particle
S s = s u r f a c e area of the sphere of the
same volume.
In practice ~b cannot be determined since
this would imply a complicated integra-
tion over surface elements of an irregular
particle. Wadell realized this difficulty
and developed (mainly for large parti-
cles) a practical formula or operational
definition of sphericity (Wadell, 1933)
which can be expressed as
/Vp
Cop = Vcs
where
@OP = operational sphericity
Vp = v o l u m e of the particle
Vcs=volume of the circumscribing
sphere.
Much of the subsequent work on sphe-
ricity, notably by W a d d l and by Krum-
bein (1941), was based on the operational
16 BERT C..ISCHEXBREXXER
definition, and hence operational sphe-
ricity has become a h n o s t synonymous
with sphericity. The method described
in this paper is a return to Wadell's
original definition of the degree of true
spericity as the basis for q u a n t i t a t i v e
shape analysis.
It is proposed to analyze the shape of
sedimentary particles tridimensionally.
However, instead of analyzing each irreg-
ular grain form as such, the shape is
approximated by a t e t r a k a i d e k a h e d r o n ,
a solid easy to handle m a t h e m a t i c a l l y
and smooth enough to a p p r o x i m a t e
rounded fornls sufficiently well. T h e
tetrakaidekahedron is defined by three
mutually perpendicular p a r a m e t e r s de-
rived from tridimensiomd intercept meas-
urements of grains.
The first part of this paper deals with
the use of the three-dimensional measure-
merits in order to express the shapes of the
particles. The application of the method
to the shape analysis of the c o m p o n e n t
grains of a sandstone sample is demon-
strated in the second part. Various per-
tinent details are presented in the
appendix.
TRIDIMENSIONAL SHAPE ANALYSIS
Definition of the Approximating Body
In order to obtain three m u t u a l l y
perpendicular parameters the following
grain dimensions are nleasured:
H = h e i g h t of the p a r t i c l e = v e r t i c a l
distance of the highest point of
the grain from the base on which
the grains are strewn,
L = l o n g e s t a p p a r e n t intercept of the
particle parallel to the base plane,
M = h m g e s t chord of the grain parallel
to the base plane and perpendicu-
lar to L.
The writer used a p h o t o g r a m m e t r i c
method [or the tridimensional measure-
ment of sand grains in connection with
this s t u d y (Aschenbrenner, 1955). How-
ever, these nleasurenlents can be made
by various techniques depending on the
size of the particles (Huitt, 195,4; K r u m -
bein, 1941).
After obtaining the three m u t u a l l y
perpendicular dimensions H, L, and M,
these are oriented with respect to the
orthogonal Cartesian coordinate axes X,
Y. and Z as follows: whichever of the three
intercepts is longest becomes p a r a m e t e r
2a along the X-axis, the shortest becomes
2c along the Z-axis, and the i n t e r m e d i a t e
dimension becomes 2b along the Y-axis;
a, b, and c are half-axes a n d are the param-
eters which define the a p p r o x i m a t i n g
body, the t e t r a k a i d e k a h e d r o n . The
scheme outlined above avoids problems
arising from the orientation of the grains
and warrants dealing hereinafter with
the half-axes a, b, and c alone as param-
eters.
G e o m e t r y of the Approximating Body
It was pointed out previously t h a t the
t e t r a k a i d e k a h e d r o n is used as the approx-
imating body since it is easily handled
m a t h e m a t i c a l l y and smooth enough for
approximating rounded forms. It is
t h o u g h t to be superior to the triaxial
ellipsoid not only because the calculation
of the surface area of the ellipsoid is
r a t h e r i n v o h e d (see Appendix V), b u t
also because s e d i m e n t a r y particles, es-
pecially sand grains, as a rule do not have
perfectly smooth surfaces.
The t e t r a k a i d e k a h e d r o n in its simplest
form is one of the thirteen Archimedean
bodies which is derived by t r u n c a t i n g the
cube or the octahedron, two of the five
Platonic bodies. If a c u b e w i t h the half-
axes a, b, and c, where a = b = c , is
t r u n c a t e d by" an octahedron with the
half-axes ~a, ~b, and ]c, w h e r e a = b = c ,
a t e t r a k a i d e k a h e d r o n with 14 equilateral
facets is obtained. This solid with six
square and eight hexagonal faces was
n a m e d by Lord Kelvin the o r t h o t e t r a -
kaidekahedron (Thompson, 1943) (fig. 1).
Its half-axes are a, b, and c, where a=b
= c. By expanding the o r t h o t e t r a k a i d e k a -
hedron differentially along the X, Y, a n d
Z axes, a t e t r a k a i d e k a h e d r o n is obtained
which is bounded by three pairs of equal
and opposite quadrilateral faces and by
four pairs of equal a n d opposite hexag-
 ]IET'HOD FOR E X P R E S S I N G P.IRTICLE S_PHER[CITY 17

ORTHOTETRAKA~DEKAHEDRON

o=b=c
,0, b, ~ c ore holf-oxes
are porallel to X,Y, ond Z reslOeclivety.

Ft(;. 1. Orthotetrakaidekahedron ill dimetric projection.

onal faces (fig. 2). Its half-axes are a, T h e v o l u m e of the t e t r a k a i d e k a h e d r o n is

b, a n d c, w h e r e a >b>c. T h e surface of a
t e t r a k a i d e k a h e d r o n with t h e half-axes
(1, b, a n d c, where a>_-b_->c, can be ex-
pressed in t e r m s of these p a r a m e t e r s as
(see Apl~endix [I,
expressed as
Vr=4abc (see AI)pen(tix II).
Definition of S h a p e
A l t h o u g h W a d e l l ' s degree of t r u e
sphericity c a n n o t be d e t e r m i n e d in prac-
tice, it can be a p p r o x i m a t e d by v a r i o u s
18 B E R T C. . I S C H E X B R E X A E R

TETRAKAIDEKAHEDRON
o>b>c
where a. b. and c are halF(~es
ore poeallel to X.Y. and
Z respe~n,~.

Fro. 2. Tetrakaidekahedron in dimetric projection.

methods. One line of approach, used in
this palter, is to approximate the irregular
sedimentary particle by a solid whose
surface area can be expressed in terms of
easily measurable parameters. Using the
tetrakaidekahedrml as the approximating
body. the true sphericity is approximated
by
,~'7"
where
.S'.r=surface area (ff the tetrakaideka-
hedron which is defined by the
three measurable, nlntua[]y per-
pendicular dimensions of the par-
Iicle
S,s=surface area of the sphere of the
same wflume as the tetrakaideka-
hedron.
Since the surface area, true or approxL
mated, is the only a t t r i b u t e introduced
into \Vadell's cnncept, aside from the
volume, particles of different "flatness"
and "elongation" can have the same
sphericity. This was pointed out by
K r u m b e i n (1941) who consequently con)
bined sphericity with an expression of
shape based on intercept ratios developed
by Zingg (1935). T h e method described
in this paper lends itself well to express-
ing the shape of the measured particle in
terms of Wadell's and Zingg's classifica-
tions since both sphericity ~ and shape
 .1lET"HOD FOR E X P R E S S I N G PARTICLE SPHERICIT}" I9

factor F can be expressed in terms of a.
b, and c. Following Zingg's terminology,
F can be expressed as the ratio of the
short dimension
=19=
intermediate dimension )
to the
intermediate dimension
thus
F=~P= ac .
tq b2
Substituting p and q for c/b and b/a re-
spectively (see Appendix l i D , the degree
of true sphericity may be approximated
by
s~ 12.2¢/~-V
¢'s: ST-- l + p( l +q) +6x, ']-t-p2(l +q 2)
However, i ' s can never attain the
numerical value 1.0, which is the limiting
value of the true sphericity. Therefore,
the surface area of the orthotetrakai-
dekahedron of equal volume, Sot, is
substituted for Ss (see Appendix IV) and
the true sphericity is then approximated
by
c Sot 13.4x~/piq
b Sr l+p(l +q) +6x J +p2(1 +q~)
Using this last expression, an actually
b existing particle of the shape of an
orthotetrakaidekahedron would be given
the sphericity 1.0 instead of its true
sphericity of 0.91. Yet,. particles of almost
spherical shape and at the same time with
such prominent edges as the ortho-
tetrakaidekahedron are not likely to
occur in nature; neither are perfect
spheres. Therefore, the best approxima-
tion of the true sphericity-is perhaps
somewhere between if's and if'r, and it
is a matter of judgment which value is
chosen. If the "working sphericity" if'
is arbitrarily set half-way between if's
and if'r, the degree of true sphericity is
then approximated by
~t= .,
l+p(1 +q) +6v/1 +p2(l +q~)

O.E
"%,
\.\ 'K,

'\,\
~ 04

0.2 I'

o0 o2 04 08 O.g 1.0 Og O.G 04 0.2 0

F .J. q
Q:I p=l
FLAKE- OISK ~ SPHERE ROLLER ~NEEDLE
OBLATE ELLIPSOID H" PROLATE E L L I P S O I O - - - -

FIG. 3.--Sphericltlesof a seriesof eHipsoldsof rotation.

20 BERT C. .1 S C H E X B R I L \ X E R

TAm, i.; 1. Comparison ~( ~.' with tlu' true sphericity ~bfor various angular and rounded solids

Half-axes Shape "I'rae

Sphe- Approx-
Solid Factor ricity imation
~, % Error
a b c F
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Prismatic P,od 2.24 1.12 1 1.79 0.77 0.87 +13.0

length =4; width =2;
height = 2
Quadratic Plate 2.83 2.83 l 0.35 0.76 0.76 + 0 '
sides=4; height =2
Cylindrical Plate 2 2 1 0.50 0.83 0.86 + 3.6
diameter =41 height =2
Triaxial Ellipsoid 2.5 2 1 0.63 0.88 0.83 - 5,7
Triaxial Ellipsoid 2.5 1.5 0.75 0.83 0.83 0.78 - 6.()
Prolate Ellipsoid 2 1 1 2.0 0.93 0.88 5.0
Prolate Ellipsoid ?, 1 1 3.00 0.85 0.81 - .1.7
Oblate Ellipsoid 2 2 1 0.50 0.91 0.86 - 5.5
Oblate Ellipsoid 3 3 1 0.33 0.80 0.75 - 6.3
IG)ot-mean-square error "k 6.4%

E v a l u a t i o n of ¢/
T h e u l t i m a t e test of a n y approxinla-
tion of t h e degree of true s p h e r i c i t y would
be a c o m p a r i s o n of the results with the
values o b t a i n e d by a m e t h o d which
actually m e a s u r e s the surface areas of
irregular solids. A l t h o u g h some physio-
chemical m e t h o d s m a y lend t h e m s e h ' e s
to such an investigation, the scope of the
s t u d y described in this p a p e r does not
p e r m i t an analysis of this possibility.
ht order to show sufficient approxi-
m a t i o n of the t r u e sphericity" by t h e more
or less a r b i t r a r y expression for ~b', the
true sphericities of r o u n d e d and a n g u l a r
solids are c o m p a r e d with t h e approxi-
m a t e d values. T h e results are s u m m a r i z e d
in table 1, a n d it can be seen t h a t ~'
is a good a p p r o x i m a t i o n of the true
sphericities of the solids considered.
A n o t h e r i n t e r e s t i n g c o m p a r i s o n is
o b t a i n e d by using the t e t r a k a i d e k a h e -
dron as the reference scdid i n s t e a d of the
triaxial ellipsoid which is used by K r u m -
beia (194l) in the expression for opera-
tional s p h e r i c i t y
Coax = ~t/ a2 ="v 'i P.
S u b s t i t u t i n g t h e t e t r a k a i d e k a h e d r o n for
the ellipsoid the a b o x e expression be-
comes
~ 2 4"qV
~'°m~T= rc "v'4q-q 2
2
=0.,8.17 : ~ _ q . ~op~
(see Appendix VI).
T h e s p h e r i c i t y values o b t a i n e d a f t e r the
s u b s t i t u t i o n should agree closely with
those o b t a i n e d with the original formula.
A f t e r solving t h e a b o v e expression for
various values of q (see A p p e n d i x VI),
t h e f o r m u l a can be simiplified to
¢oenr = (0.936 ± 0.056) -Cm,n.
This shows t h a t the t e t r a k a i d e k a h e d r o n
as the reference solid gives results slightly
smaller b u t within a few p e r c e n t of those
o b t a i n e d with the ellipsoid. T h e smaller
values are of course due to the fact t h a t
the t e t r a k a i d e k a h e d r o n is more a n g u l a r
t h a n the triaxial ellipsoid.
It s e e m s equally i n t e r e s t i n g to evalu-
a t e t h e reversal of the s u b s t i t u t i o n just
described. If t h e triaxial ellipsoid is used
as the a p p r o x i m a t i n g b o d y i n s t e a d of the
t e t r a k a i d e k a h e d r o n , t h e following ex-
 Mb.'TIt~)D FOR E X P R E S S I . \ U PARTICLE SPHERICITY 21

I;r

o ol 02 o5 o4 o.~ u.~ or o.H o,~ to

SHORT . . . .
iNTERMEDiATE-C/°=P

GHART FOR CONVERTING TIlE P 6 R ~ T E R S ~ I~, &ND c

INTO SPHERICITY ~" ~ St-~PE F&CTOR F.

~" I+ D. + a)+e'~-~-~77~
D

Fu;. 4.--Chart for determining lhe shape of particles in terms of sphericity ~' and shape
factor F. Since .~' is bused oll \Vadell's definition of the degree of true sphericity, the litms of
equal sphericity in this figure differ from curves of similar appearance which represent equal
operational sphericities in charts resembling figure 4.
22 BERT C. A S C H E N B R E N N E R
pression based on the definition of true
sphericity, can be derived (see Appendix
V)
Ss
~PE = --
S~.
2 \~/
1 smoothness represented by the ellipsoids.
p~+ ~ - [sin~"yE(7, K)+cos 2 ~F(7, K)]
qsmy
where
S~:=surface area of the triaxial
ellipsoid
Ss =surface area of the sphere of
equal volume
K = vT1 - p2/1 - p2q~
3' - cos-I Pq
F and E =elliptic integrals of the first
and second order respec-
tively.
A comparison of the ¢/E values with the
~b' values for fifteen ellipsoids of rotation
and four triaxial ellipsoids shows that
the root-mean-square error of the ~k,
values is .5.8 percent, with the maximum
and minimum errors being -0..3 percent
and - 4 . 2 percent respectively (see Ap-
pendix VII). Obviously the sphericity
values obtained with the tetrakaideka-
hedron as tile reference solid, although
consistently smaller, agree closely with
those obtained using the triaxial ellipsoid
as the approximating body. The size of
the error, the complexity of the expression
for ~b'~, and the rarity of truly ellipsoidal
forms among sedimentary particles are
strong arguments in favor of using the
tetrakaidekahedron as the reference solid.
If sphericity, which is considered to be
a physically meaningful parameter of
particle shape (Pettijohn, 1949), is ideally"
measured by the degree of true sphericity,
then one is justified to ask how well the
"working sphericity" ~p' approximates
this ideal measurement and whether the
method and expression described in this
paper constitutes an improvement over the problem of classifying the component
other allproximations such as the opera-
tional sphericity. In an a t t e m p t to an- reduced to the following steps:
swer these questions, the true sphericities
g,, the "working sphericities" g/, and .plurality of sedimentary particles,
Krumbein's operational sphericitles CORK
are plotted for a group of ellipsoids of
rotation in figure 3. This graph shows
clearly the following facts:
1. ¢ ' follows the true sphericity ¢, very
closely, being consistently slightly smaller
due to the fact that it takes into account
a small angularity instead of the utmost
2. ~.'oeg represents a parameter of en-
tirely different behavior due to the fact
that Krumbein's expression is based on
the operational definition of sphericity.
The characteristic differences as com-
pared with the true sphericity are:
a. The ¢,OPK-curve has a cusp at the
center where the ¢,-curve has a horizontal
tangent;
b. The slope of the ~,opK-curve on
either side of the center stays nearly
constant down to a value of 0.i for p or q
(i.e. ten times elongation or compression),
while the slope of the tb-curve increases
slowly from 0 at the center to greater
and greater values. Compared to the
behavior of ~oex the behavior of ¢/ is
more like that of the ideal measurement.
the degree of true sphericity if; therefore
the expression for ¢' is considered an
improvement over expressions based on
the operational definition of sphericity,
s u c h a s ¢'oeK.
From the results of the various com-
parative studies described above it is
concluded that the return to Wadell's
original definition of sphericity as the
basis for quantitative shape analysis is
justified and that the use of ~' as the
"working sphericity" is warranted.
Procedure for Shape Analysis
In order to expedite the determination
of the shape of sedimentary particles, a
chart for converting the parameters a, b,
and c into sphericity ~ / a n d shape factor
F was prepared (fig. 4). Using this chart
grains of a sediment as to their shape is
a. measuring the dimensions of a
 M E T H O D FOR E X P R E S S [ . Y G P . I R T I C L E S P H E R I C I T I " 23

20

I0

%
C 0015 Ol 01'3 02 O.U 03 0.4
I00- LOClgNI
o %

90-
26
80-
20
70-

60-
[,.
I0
50-

40-
0 ' I U'-'] , I
$O-
I %
I~erm~f~*

ZO- I
i 25-
JO'~

Oi
o I00 ~ 300 400 6
F~rt~ raze

0 t
0 ~ ' I ' i ' i , i
Porticb size dizffibJtion of one 0 0., O.i 0.~ O. I OrS OZ osls o4
ShorINt
=rumple of Woodl:ine sondsto~
occor(knQ to rove onolysi$.

Frequency ~ogroms for the WQ~lhfed clltltriDutiOnl

of the dir~,lmli~ of 280 sand g ~ , t i~ the
porticle size ~ o u ~ 50,-I00 and 100--200 mesh.

Fro. 5.--Particle characteristics of a sample of \Voodbine sandstone.

b. d e t e r m i n i n g t h e s p h e r i c i t y ~b' a n d T h e d i s t r i b u t i o n s of t h e longest, in-

t h e s h a p e f a c t o r F fur t h e p a r a m e t e r s t e r m e d i a t e a n d s h o r t e s t d i m e n s i o n of
from the sphericity chart, t h e c o m p o n e n t p a r t i c l e s of t h e s e d i m e n t
c. c o m p i l i n g a n d e v a l u a t i n g t h e r e s u l t s s a m p l e d m a y be o b t a i n e d m o r e or less
for t h e total s a m p l e or p o r t i o n s of it. as a b y - p r o d u c t of t h e s h a p e a n a l y s i s .
24 B E R T C. . I S C H E X B R E N . V E R

m
~FtoqwMlCy dlOgrClmof'the |!peri¢itio4 of 200
tO
groim in ~ o ~ m group 50,-.,.100mesh.
zoo ¢rum,oO0 %.
This W t i d e ndzo(Iroq~ ¢omprNm 95.Z % of the
I(ml 5 0 - 4 0 0 mesh sond sire,sit.
~,o

0
o2 Q$ 0.4 0,5 0.8 0.7 0.8 0.9
,Sp~lricit y

(~) Fr~mncy diogrom of the sl:l~ericitiu of 80 tm¢l

gro/ns in the ~rtic.kl ~ group IO0- 200 n'~iHtk.
80 groim :100 % .
Ttm. portickReraze group ¢omwbN 4.1 °/o of the toto~
50-400 ma¢~ ~'T4 ~Oml~.

(12 03 0.4 0.~ O.l~ 0.7 0.8 0,9 I .lO dl~'

% Spher~ty

@W~lh~ld freqtmncy diogrom of the sphlri¢;~tm

20
in the I~'licle size groups 50-100 ond 1 0 0 - 2 0 0
i1'mlh.
~,. t-
to t M percemoge contributms of th* req~ect~e
portick) mi~[e gtOUlPeto ftte total 5 0 - 4 0 0 mesh
sm(I tempi*.

o u /
Og 0.3 0.4 G5 0,6 0.7 ~8 G9 1,0 ~'
5p~¢ay

Fro. 6. Frequency diagrams for the distribution of if'.

APPLICATION OF THE METHOD
Procedure
In order to d e m o n s t r a t e the applica-
tion of the method described, a sample of
Woodbine s a n d s t o n e was obtained from
an outcrop near Arlington, T a r r a n t
County, Texas. A b o u t 1½ Ibs., disaggre-
gated by soaking and gently agitating
in water, was separated into four particle
size groups by wet sieving. The limits of
these groups were 50-100, 100-200,
200-300, a n d 300-400 mesh. Particles
which passed 400 mesh were discarded.
Figure 5 shows the particle size distri-
bution of the sand sample. A photo-
grammetrie method was used for the
tridimensional m e a s u r e m e n t of the sand
grains. ~ ' and F were determined for 280
grains a n d the results are presented in a
series of frequency diagrams (figs. 6 and
7). T h e distributions of the three mutual-
ly perpendicular grain dimensions were
obtained as a by-product of the shape
analysis (fig. 5).
 J[t,:TtIOD FOR E X t ~ R E S ' . q [ V G P. I R J ' / C L E S P I I E R I C I T " ] * 25

Results nearly log-normal than normal in their

In order to evaluate the data, fractile
diagrams for the weighted distributions
of d / a n d F were prepared o n both arith-
metic and logarithmic prol)abilitv scales
(figs. 8 and q). It can he seen from these
graphs tirol both distributions approxi-
mate a straight line more closely when
plotted ()n the logarithmic probal)ility
scale, i.e. the distributi(ms are more
character. Since 4' and F are not dis-
tributed normally, the mode is used
rather than the arithmetic mean as an
indication of the central tendencies of the
shape characteristics. For the sphericity
4 ' of this particular sample of \Voodbine
sandstone
t).85 < mode < 0.90

% ( ~ Frequency di~lrom of the ohope fecta'=

of 2 0 0 sand groino in ~ I~rlic~l

J!
tO 50-100 mesh.
200 grains :100 ~e
This portlde s~za ~ ¢omp¢ieee
~'t6 95.2 °/e of the total 5 0 - 4 0 0 mere
sand sample.

. . . . . . I 1 1 • 1
0 0.2 0.4 0.8 0.8 LO 12 L4 l.a La 2.0 F
% ,Shape leoctcr
®
F r o ' t o y diagram of rite ~ foctors
to
of 8 0 eancl ¢rc~ne in the pcrticle eiz*

I" I 0 0 - 2 0 0 meN.
O0 gram = (00 %.
This l~'ticJt ~ group COmlXNI 4.1 °/o
b. I0 of the total 5 0 - 4 0 0 meth aond
Nm~¢

0 , ! ,
0 o~. 0.4 o.s o.8 m ~ t4 F.e L0 Ir
% Shape FocSor

'~tt~ frequency dlagram of the

20
ehope factors m the porti¢~ me
9roupe 50..100 and 1 0 0 - 2 0 0 m e ~

¢om=intd ace.ord~ll to the I:~'¢e~te~le

conh'i3utione of Ihe raepective
particle =iza llrOUlpe to the total
s 5 0 - 4 0 0 mesh land llamplt

O • , ~ . •
o 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1,0 LE 1.4 I.e 1,8 |O F
Shape Factor

FIG. 7.--Frequency diagrams for the distribution of F.

26 B E R l" C. . 1 S C H E X B R E . Y N E R

and for the shape factor F kaidekahedron which is defined by the

0,50 < mode <0.61).
Both distriburions are somewhat bimodal
with relatively insignificant but recog-
nizable seconrtarv modes as follows:
sphericity ¢'
0.50 <sec0ndary mode<(}.55
shape factor F
1.0 < secondary mode < 1.1.
S U,~I M A R'~"
A method for the tridimensional shape
analysis of sedimentary particles has
been described. Its main features are:
a. the m e a s u r e m e n t of three m u t u a l h '
perpendicular grain dimensions,
b. the at)l)roximation of the irregularly
shaped sedimentary particle by a tetra-
dimensions measured,
c. the q u a n t i t a t i v e expression of the
shape of the particle simultaneously in
terms of Zingg's shape factor and a n
approxinlation of \ \ ~ d e l l ' s true spheric-
itv.
It was shown t h a t the use of the ap-
proximating formula seems to be justified
for both rounded and angular forms and
t h a t the expression constitutes an im-
p r o v e m e n t over expressions based on the
operational definition of sphericity.
T h e applicability of the method was
d e m o n s t r a t e d by the analysis of the
c o m p o n e n t grains of a sample of Wood-
1)ine sandstone.
I t is t h o u g h t t h a t this method for
expressing particle sphericity m a y be-
come a useful tool in various phases of
stratigraphy.

001 0.5 I 2 5 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 95 98 99 99.5 999 99.99

CUMULATIVE FREQUENCY IN PER CENT

Fro. 8. Fractile diagram for the weighted distribution of •'.

 M E I ' I i O D FOR I ' ~ X P R E S S I . Y G k L I R i " I C L E S P H E R I C I T " Y 27

O.Ot OJ 0.5 r 2 5 I0 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 95 98 9 9 99.5 99,9 99.99

CUMUL,~TrVE FREOUENCY rN PER CENT

Flu. 9. Fractile diagram for the weighted distribution of /;.

ACKNOWLEI)GMENTS APPENDIX
I. Surface Area of the Tetrakaidekahedron
Acknowledgement is gratefully given
to the faculty of the (;eology Depart- with the Half-Axes a, b, and c
ment of Soutimrn Methodist University, a) Surface area of three pairs of equal
without whose interest and assistance and opposite quadrilateral faces:
this study would not have been possible. b
I) 2.v--=be
In addition, the writer's sincere appre- 2
ciation is extended to Richard Carter for
developing the formulae presented in Ap- 2) 2.b a=ab
2
pendix V, and to Alan 7~IcPherson for
assistance in the drafting of the illustra- 3) 2"ca=ac,
lions. 2
The writer is particularly indebted to Area of six quadrilateral f a c e s = l ) + 2 )
his father, Dr. Claus M. Aschenbrenner, +3) =ab+bc+ca.
of Boston University Physical Research b) Surface area of four pairs of equal and
l,aboratories, for his advice and criticism, opposite hexagonal faces:
and to l)r. William C. Krumbein, of There are eight hexagons each consist-
Northwestern Uaiversit), for a critical ing of six'equal.¢triangles, The sides of
review of the writer's thesis, and for each triangle expressed in terms of the
several helpful suggeslions. half-axes a, b, and c are
28 BERT C. A S C H E N B R E N N E R

a n d the expression for the volume be-

comes
By definition the surface area of a plane
oblique triangle is Vr =4b~ P~.
q
.~'= \ ,i:d=~iG=-@-t(s- c'~
Let r be t h e r a d i u s of the sphere of equal
w h e r e s = ~(A + B + C).
v o l u m e , then
Substitutinv, ~(,,t+B+C) for a,
~ ,£'+b ~ for A, p 4
4ba =_ rr ~
q 3
}\ a~+c-" for B, and ~\ b~-+c"-for ('
and s o l v i n g for r
the following expression for the surface
area of one triangle is obtained
'; = ~ \ a=b2+b2c~+c2a2 Let Ss be the surface area of the sphere of
and therefore the area of one hexagon the same volume as the tetrakaidekahe-
dron, then
= ~\ a2bO@b~c~+c~a~.
Ss = 4rcr"
]tence the area of eight hexagona[ faces
and s u b s t i t u t i n g b~/3p/~rq for r
= b\ a~b=+b=c=+c-"aL
a/a p2
c) Total surface area of the tet raka[deka- S,s = 4b~~/9~r q7
hedron:
This is equal to the sum of the areas of The degree of true sphericity if approxi-
six quadrilateral and eight hexagonal mated by
facets which is S,g
57,= ab+bc +ac-76\ aZM+b2c2+a2cL
a ---- p-2-
II. Volume of the 7"elrakaidekahedro~t
with the t t a l f - A x e s a, b. a , d c
The volume of the t e t r a k a i d e k a h e d r o n b~ [1 +p(l_t_q) +6\/1 4 p , ( l +-q2;t
is equal to the volmne of an octahedron q
with the half-axes }a, ~b, and }c minus This reduces to
lhose portions which are t r u n c a t e d by a
cube with the half-axes a. b, arid c. 12.2~/~-
! [euce
¢'s = l+pilTq)+6\);l~L/~if+q~.; "
9 ~ /abc bca acb\
v,,,= 2 ,,bc- ) 1 1". Expression for an A p p r o x i m a t i o u of
the Degree of True Sphericity i f the
9 3 8 Surface Area of the Orthotetrakaide-
= abc ..... abe= abc=4 abc.
2 6 2 kahedron of E q u a l Volume is Sub-
III. E.vpressiml for an Approximati0n o.f stituted for S s
the Degree of Trne Sphericity The o r t h o t e t r a k a i d e k a h e d r o n of the
same volume as the t e t r a k a i d e k a h e d r o n
By definition p = c , b , q = b / a .
has three equal half-axes, namely ~/abc.
S u b s t i t u t i n g p for c ' b and q for b,/a,
Therefore p = 1 and q = 1, and the surface
the expression for the surface area of the
area of the o r t h o t e t r a k a i d e k a h e d r o n
tetrakaidekahedron becomes
becomes
b~
q .%v = 13.4( 4 / ~ c i t
 METIIOD FOR I~XPRESSIXG P. tRT"[CLE SPHERICITY 29

Substituting b/q for a and bp for c The volume of the triaxial ellipsoid is
/~, ,) 4 4 p
SOT = l 3.4b 2 p 2'a l ~E= - - 7rabc= --- 7r - - •
• 3 3 q

The degree of true sphericity' is approxi- The radius__of the sphere of equal volume
mated t)3 is ~ / p / q and the surface area of this
Sot sphere is
C/T=
"% /px2.'a Ss=4rr ( ~ ) ':a

- The degree of true sphericity is approxi-

/f [ l + p ( l + q ) + 6 \ l+p~(l+q=)] mated by
q ~ j t g ~ Ss
__
This reduces to SE
13.4~p~ 4r (Pq) ~Ja
(T=
p(l +q)-~6\ 1+ p*(1+q=~"
2 t p=-'-k~-~i~71[sin=TEE(7,K)+cos =7F(~', K)] 1
I'. Expression for an A p p r o x i m a t i o n of
the True Degree of Sphericity usi~zg a which reduces to
Triaxial Ellipsoid as the A pproximat-
ing Body
~'~
Legendre's formula for the surface area 1
of a triaxial ellipsoid is p 2 + - 7 [sin~YE(7, K)+cos ~yF(y, K)]
q sm "y

S~=2rtc~ + .ab [sin~yE(% K) VI. Expression for K r n m b e i n ' s Opera-

t sin tional Sphericity i f a Tetrakaideka-
hedron is Substituted for the T r i a x i a l
+ cosz ~1"(7, K)} I Ellipsoid
where 3' = COS--I ~7/ta Based on the operational definition of
sphericity Krumbein (1941) developed
the expression
K_ a ~/bLc~

E and F=elliptic integrals of the first

and second kind where a, b, and c=half-axes of an ellip-
a, b, and c=half-axes of the ellipsoid, soid
a >_b >_c.
Substituting p for c/b and q for b/a C
p=--
Le~endre's formula becomes b
1 b
l [sin = yE(% K)
Substituting a tetrakaidekahedron for
+cos ="yF(7, K)] } the ellipsoid the expression becomes
/
where T = c os-~ Pq
~/ 4abe a 3 abc

K= r l - pZq 2
¢oP~r = 4
~ Tt.rC~3 F# 7"
rcsg
30 B E R T " C. , t S C H E N B R E N N E R

where VII. Comparison of ~'E with ~b' for Four

a, b, a n d c = h a l f - a x e s of a t e t r a k a i d e - Triaxial Ellipsoids and Fifteen El-
kahedron lipsoids of Rotation
rcs = r a d i u s of t h e c i r c u m s c r i b -
T h e t a b l e below s h o w s a c o m p i l a t i o n of
ing sphere.
the results:
/--/ b \= a /--b-" a
,,,~= 4 / . ' + ~ ) =~f4+ ,= e , 4 + # p q F ff'z ¢,' %
Error
Hence
0.1 1.0 0.1 0.419 0.380 --9.3
0.2 1.0 0.2 0.625 0.573 --8.3
0.33 1.0 0.33 0.80 0.75 --6.3
--a~-{Va-g>!, 0.4 1.0 0.4 0.85l 0.799 --6.l
0.5 0.2 2.5 0.603 0.565 -6.3
~r \ 4 + q = - - a ~ 0.5 0.4 1.25 0.745 0.697 --6.4
0.5 0.6 0.833 0.829 0.777 --6.3
=
¢ ~ \ 4+q= ~oPK. 0.5 0,8 0.625 0.880 0.829 --5.8
0.5 1.0 0.5 0.910 0.862 -5.5
O b t a i n i n g n u m e r i c a l v a l u e s for v a r i o u s 0.6 1.0 0.6 0.950 0.907 -4.5
v a l u e s of q a n d s u b s t i t u t i n g 0.9847 for 0.8 1.0 0.8 0.989 0.947 -4.2
-~/3/rr t h e following table is c o m p i l e d : 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.000 0.955 -4.5
1.0 0.1 10.0 0.588 0.561 --4,6
2 a/ 3 2 Deviation 1.0 0.2 5.0 0.732 0.695 --5,1
\ 4+¢ g 7; ;g+q-~ Mean
1.0
1.0
0.33 3.0
0.4 2.5
0,85
0.885
0,81
0,841
--4.7
--5.0
1 0,895 0.880 --6.0% 1.0 0.5 2.0 0,93 0,883 --5,0
0.8 0,928 0.914 --2.4% 1.0 0.6 1.67 0.959 0,915 -5.0
0.6 0.958 0.943 +0.7%
0.4 0.980 0.964 +3.0% 1.0 0.8 1.25 0,993 0.948 -4.5
0.2 0,994 0.978 +4.5%
mean 0.936 Root-mean-square error 5 . 8 %
M a x i m u m error - 9.3 %
Minimum error --4.2%
H e n c e .~'OPKr= (0.936 ± 0.056)~bOPK

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