Pastes: lubricated and cohesive granular media

We analyze, in the light of experiments, a few typical aspects of the rheological or mechanical behavior of pastes, defined as dense and liquid-saturated assemblies of grains, with or without physical–chemical interactions. Emphasis is placed on the consequences of jamming, which distinguishes pastes from concentrated suspensions, contact lubrication, which distinguishes pastes from dry granular media, and cohesion. The points addressed are the following: the onset of flow, the contribution of friction in the yield stress, solid–liquid segregation and compaction, adhesion (tackiness) and cohesive rupture. To cite this article: H. Van Damme et al., C. R. Physique 3 (2002) 229–238.