Sand, rice, sugar, snow, cement... Although ubiquitous in our daily lives, granular media still challenge engineers and fascinate researchers. This book provides the state-of-the-art of the physics of granular media and recent advances in the field. The book presents the fundamental properties of granular materials: interactions between grains; solid, liquid and gaseous behaviours; coupling with a fluid; and sediment transport and formation of geological structures. Descriptions of the phenomena combine qualitative and formal arguments, coming from areas as diverse as elasticity, plasticity, statistical physics, fluid mechanics and geomorphology. Many examples of the astonishing behaviours of granular media are presented, including avalanches, segregation, dune song and quicksand. This book is ideal for graduate students and researchers in physics, applied mathematics and engineering.

Sable, riz, sucre, neige, ciment...La mati re en grains nous est famili re et abonde dans nos cuisines, dans la nature et de nombreux proc d s industriels. Ce livre scientifique pr sente les propri t s fondamentales des milieux granulaires, discute les diff rents comportements solide, liquide et gaz qu'ils peuvent avoir, et aborde les probl matique g ophysiques du transport de s diment et de la g omorphologie.