Computerized characterization of the geometry of real porous media: their discretization, analysis and interpretation

SUMMARY Real or reconstructed porous media can be discretized as a series of elementary cubes, which are filled either with a solid or a fluid phase. Various algorithms, based on pseudo‐diffusion processes, are proposed to determine the connected and percolating components of the pore space. The graph of the pore space is obtained by two different methods; the most efficient is based upon homotopic thinning. Topological characteristics, such as the number of loops, are derived. Systematic applications of these algorithms are illustrated on computer reconstructions of various sandstones.