Abstract
The author presents a behavioural study of wet granular media. A first step of characterization of such media, combining mechanical and textural aspects, will make it possible to establish the basis of a schematic representation of the hydrous and textural states of granular media. This representation will be used in the analysis of the agglomeration process and will allow, thanks to a study combining hydro-textural and morpho-granulometric aspects, to analyze the modifications undergone by granular media subjected to wetting and kneading. These modifications will be analyzed at two different scales: at the agglomerate scale, it will be shown that agglomeration can be considered as a fractal process; at the bulk scale, a three stepped texturation phenomenon will be highlighted. The last part of this work will consist in a more specific study of the effects of vibratory or axial constraints on the texturation phenomenon mentioned beforehand. The point will be to study up to what point this type of constraints (tapping, compaction), is likely to modify the aspect of the texturation phenomenon and to determine the factors likely to influence the succession of its various phases. The study of the relaxation kinetics under vibratory constraints will also make it possible to propose a new model of relaxation based on a mechanical approach.