Porous body, honeycomb filter, microstructure analysis method, program for same, and microstructure analyzer

A microstructure analysis method using porous-body data in which positional information providing a position of a voxel is associated with voxel type information including information that allows determination as to whether the voxel is a spatial voxel representing a space or an object voxel representing an object, the porous-body data being prepared through three-dimensional scanning of a region including a surface of the porous body, the microstructure analysis method comprising:

• (a) a step of defining an imaginary surface that is in contact with at least one object voxel present in the surface of the porous body;
• (b) a step of identifying, as surface layer straight-pore voxels, spatial voxels in contact with the imaginary surface and a predetermined number or more of spatial voxels that continuously lie from the imaginary surface toward an inside of the porous body in a predetermined thickness direction, or a step of identifying, as the surface layer straight-pore voxels, the predetermined number or more of spatial voxels that continuously lie from the imaginary surface toward the inside of the porous body in the predetermined thickness direction;
• and
• (c) a step of deriving, as a surface layer thickness Ts, a length of a surface layer region in the thickness direction, the surface layer region being determined on the basis of a region where the identified surface layer straight-pore voxels are present.

A microstructure analyzer comprising:

• a storage device for storing porous-body data in which positional information providing a position of a voxel is associated with voxel type information including information that allows determination as to whether the voxel is a spatial voxel representing a space or an object voxel representing an object, the porous-body data being prepared through three-dimensional scanning of a region including a surface of the porous body;
• an imaginary surface definition device for defining, on the basis of the porous-body data, an imaginary surface that is in contact with at least one object voxel present in the surface of the porous body;
• an identification device for identifying, as surface layer straight-pore voxels, spatial voxels in contact with the imaginary surface and a predetermined number or more of spatial voxels that continuously lie from the imaginary surface toward an inside of the porous body in a predetermined thickness direction, or identifying, as the surface layer straight-pore voxels, the predetermined number or more of spatial voxels that continuously lie from the imaginary surface toward the inside of the porous body in the predetermined thickness direction;
• and
• a surface layer thickness derivation device for deriving, as a surface layer thickness Ts, a length of a surface layer region in the thickness direction, the surface layer region being determined on the basis of a region where the identified surface layer straight-pore voxels are present.