The relevance of kinetic theory of granular gases in sediment transport

Diego Berzi

It has been argued that the kinetic theory of granular gases is the fundamental framework to describe the behaviour of granular materials, at least in the absence of rate-independent, elastic contribution to the stress tensor. There have been numerous attempts to apply the concepts of kinetic theory, and statistical mechanics in general, to the motion of sediments in a carrier fluid, thus treating the solid particles as a continuum phase. Here, we present a review of the range of applicability and main results of kinetic theory to sediment transport, including the remaining challenges.