Patent ID: 7879430

Claim:
A honeycomb structure, comprising: a plurality of honeycomb units bonded together by using a sealing material layer, each of the honeycomb units including a plurality of through holes arranged side by side in a longitudinal direction of the honeycomb structure, all of the through holes being open on an end face of the honeycomb unit, and separated from each other by wall surfaces of the through holes; wherein each of the honeycomb units includes at least ceramic particles selected form γ-alumina, silica, zirconia, titania, ceria, mullite, and zeolite; and at least one of inorganic fibers and whiskers in an amount of about 3 wt % to about 70 wt % of the honeycomb structure; wherein the plurality of honeycomb units are formed by firing a material including the ceramic particles and the at least one of the inorganic fibers and the whiskers at a temperature of about 600° C. to about 1200° C.; wherein an area of a cross section of one of the honeycomb units perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the one of the honeycomb units is greater than or equal to about 5 cm 2 and less than or equal to about 50 cm 2 , and a circularity of the cross section of the honeycomb structure perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the honeycomb structure is greater than or equal to about 1.0 mm and less than or equal to about 2.5 mm; and wherein a ratio of a sum of areas of the cross sections of the honeycomb units perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the honeycomb units to an area of a cross section of the honeycomb structure perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the honeycomb structure is greater than or equal to about 85%.