The pore structure is an important factor of tunnel coating failure, cracking and water leakage. Some investigations on the statistical law of pores and pore networks have been conducted, but little quantitative analysis is observed on topology structure of the pore network, and even the pore structure of sandstone is complex and cross-scale distributed. Therefore, it is of theoretical and engineering significance to quantitatively characterize the connectivity of the pore network in sandstone.

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... This study proposes a new complex network theory to analyze the three-dimensional nature of pore network structure in sandstone. The topological network structure, such as clustering degree, average path length and the module, which cannot be analyzed by traditional coordination number and fractal dimension methods, is analyzed. Numerical simulation results show that a scale-free network model is more suitable for describing the sandstone pore network than random models. The pore network of sandstone has good uniformity. The connectivity of sandstone pore networks has great potential for permeability enhancement. Therefore, this new method provides a way to deeply understand the pore connectivity characteristics of sandstone and to explore the distribution of crack grids in the arch of tunnel coatings.