Kinetic Theory for Binary Granular Mixtures at Low-Density

Abstract

Many features of granular media can be modelled as a fluid of hard spheres with {\em inelastic} collisions. Under rapid flow conditions, the macroscopic behavior of grains can be described through hydrodynamic equations. At low-density, a fundamental basis for the derivation of the hydrodynamic equations and explicit expressions for the transport coefficients appearing in them is provided by the Boltzmann kinetic theory conveniently modified to account for inelastic binary collisions. The goal of this chapter is to give an overview of the recent advances made for binary granular gases by using kinetic theory tools. Some of the results presented here cover aspects such as transport properties, energy nonequipartition, instabilities, segregation or mixing, non-Newtonian behavior, .... In addition, comparison of the analytical results with those obtained from Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics simulations is also carried out, showing the reliability of kinetic theory to describe granular flows even for strong dissipation.