Three regimes of granular avalanches in fluids are put in light depending on the Stokes number St which prescribes the relative importance of grain inertia and fluid viscous effects and on the grain/fluid density ratio $r$. In gas ($r\gg 1$ and $\mathrm{S}\mathrm{t}>1$, e.g., the dry case), the amplitude and time duration of avalanches do not depend on any fluid effect. In liquids ($r\sim 1$), for decreasing St, the amplitude decreases and the time duration increases, exploring an inertial regime and a viscous regime. These three regimes are described by the analysis of the elementary motion of one grain.

• Received 25 July 2002

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.044301