APPLIED FRACTAL GEOMETRY AND THE FINEPARTICLE SPECIALIST .1. RUGGED BOUNDARIES AND ROUGH SURFACES

Fractal Geometry developed in 1977 by B. Mandelbrot describes the structure of rugged systems by extending the concepts of classical dimensional analysis to include a fractional addendum to the topological dimension of a system in order to describe the space filling properties of the rugged system. In the 15 years since the publication of Mandelbrot's book describing his seminal ideas fractal geometry has found many applications in fineparticle science and technology. This body of applied knowledge is now known as Applied Fractal Geometry. The purpose of this review is to focus on the various branches of applied fractal geometry of interest to the fineparticle specialist in a systematic manner. The first part is concerned with ruggedness of fineparticle boundaries, the structure of simple porous bodies, fragmentation and powder production, the assessment of the properties of such materials as paper, and the characterization of rough surfaces. The second part will explore the use of fractal dimensions to describe mixing operations, composite bodies, such as synthetic bones, and paint films.