Permeability of a random array of fractures of widely varying apertures

We modelize a fractured rock by a random array of plane cracks of finite extent having a very broad distribution of apertures (or of hydraulic conductances). If the rock is permeable, the flow will essentially take place along a ‘subnetwork’ made of the less resistant cracks. Using an analogy with the treatment of variable range transport in semiconductors, we evaluate the homogenization length and the permeability of this disordered network. This evaluation makes use of the notion of the critical bonds which are the weakest cracks among the good ones necessary for percolation; the remaining weaker bonds make a negligible contribution to the permeability. The method is applicable to other examples of transport in very heterogeneous macroscopic random materials.