  An original experimental approach is presented to automatically determine the
average phase distribution around damage sites in multi-phase materials. An
objective measure is found to be the average intensity around damage sites,
calculated using many images. This method has the following benefits: no phase
identification or manual interventions are required, and statistical
fluctuations and measurement noise are effectively averaged. The method is
demonstrated for dual-phase steel, revealing subtle unexpected differences in
the morphology surrounding damage in strongly and weakly banded
microstructures.
