Granular rheology: a tale of three time scales

Abstract

We adapt statistical models of the physics of complex fluids to study the rheology of granular liquids. This allows us to provide laws of granular rheology based on first principles, which compare well with previously established phenomenological laws. In particular, the very successful law of mu(I) rheology can be understood within our model as the lowest order non trivial Pade approximant of the macroscopic laws of rheology. Our model's ability to describe granular physics outside of the Bagnold scaling regime allows for a natural extension to the rheology of granular suspensions.