Journal of Statistical Physics, Vol. 96, Nos. 12, 1999. p. 447-458.
From the known statistics of fiber-fiber contacts in random fiber networks, an analytic estimate is obtained for the variance of local porosity in random fiber suspensions and evolving filtrate networks. The variance of local porosity, and hence the distribution of projected areal density, seem to depend on fiber geometry only through the cube of mean diameter. Also, the coefficient of variation of local flow rate perpendicular to the plane of the pad is, to a first approximation, independent of the mode of flow. Analytic estimates are obtained also for the effect of fiber clumping on the variance of local porosity of pads for small inspection zones.