Quantifying Level of Microbial-Induced Cementation for Cyclically Loaded Sand
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 143, Issue 6
Abstract
Microbial-induced calcite precipitation (MICP) is a novel soil-improvement technique that improves the behavior of sands subjected to dynamic loading. The level of cementation of MICP-treated sands is commonly quantified using mass of calcite precipitation; however, mass of calcite is not a unique measure for material behavior as other factors, such as the distribution of calcite precipitation at the particle contacts, would also affect the mechanical behavior of MICP-treated sands. Therefore, mass of calcite alone may not be appropriate to characterize material behavior. This study illustrates the importance of using shear-wave velocity in addition to mass of calcite to quantify the level of MICP cementation to the corresponding material behavior, since shear-wave velocity is not only affected by the mass of calcite, but also influenced by the distribution of calcite precipitation at the particle contacts. Two specimens are cemented with the MICP process to the same mass of calcite value but to different shear-wave velocities and then cyclically loaded. The observed mechanical behavior of the specimens indicates the specimen with higher shear-wave velocity possesses larger liquefaction resistance compared to the specimen with lower shear velocity, which provides evidence that the material behavior of MICP-treated sands is not only affected by the precipitated mass of calcite, but also influenced by the distribution pattern of calcite precipitation.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
Funding from the National Science Foundation (CMMI #1537007 and EEC #1342207) is appreciated. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
References
Al Qabany, A., Mortensen, B., Martinez, B., Soga, K., and DeJong, J. (2011). “Microbial carbonate precipitation: Correlation of S-wave velocity with calcite precipitation.” Geotech. Spec. Publ., 211, 3993–4001.
Al Qabany, A., and Soga, K. (2013). “Effect of chemical treatment used in MICP on engineering properties of cemented soils.” Geotechnique, 63(4), 331–339.
Chou, C., Seagren, E., Aydilek, A., and Lai, M. (2011). “Biocalcification of sand through ureolysis.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 1179–1189.
Chu, J., Stabnikov, V., and Ivanov, V. (2012). “Microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation on surface or in the bulk of soil.” Geomicrobiol. J., 29(6), 544–549.
Clough, G., Iwabuchi, J., Rad, N., and Kuppusamy, T. (1989). “Influence of cementation on liquefaction of sands.” J. Geotech. Eng., 1102–1117.
DeJong, J. T., Fritzges, M. B., and Nusslein, K. (2006). “Microbially induced cementation to control sand response to undrained shear.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 1381–1392.
DeJong, J. T., Mortensen, B. M., Martinez, B. C., and Nelson, D. C. (2010). “Bio-mediated soil improvement.” Ecol. Eng., 36(2), 197–210.
Feng, K., and Montoya, B. M. (2016). “Influence of confinement and cementation level on the behavior of microbial induced calcite precipitated sands under monotonic loading.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., .
Lee, J.-S., and Santamarina, J. C., (2005). “Bender elements: Performance and signal interpretation.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 1063–1070.
Lin, H., Suleiman, M. T., Brown, D. G., and Kavazanjian, E. (2016). “Mechanical behavior of sands treated by microbially induced carbonate precipitation.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 142(2), .
Martinez, B., et al. (2013). “Experimental optimization of microbial-induced carbonate precipitation for soil improvement.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., 587–598.
Mohsin, A. K. M., and Airey, D. W. (2003). “Automating Gmax measurement in triaxial tests.” Deformation characteristics of geomaterials, H. Di Benedetto, T. Doanh, H. Geoffroy, and C. Sauzeat, eds., Swets & Zeitlinger, Lisse, Lyon, France, 73–80.
Montoya, B. M., and DeJong, J. T. (2015). “Stress-strain behavior of sands cemented by microbially induced calcite precipitation.” J. Geotech. Geoenviron. Eng., .
Montoya, B. M., DeJong, J. T., and Boulanger, R. W. (2013). “Dynamic response of liquefiable sand improved by microbial-induced calcite precipitation.” Géotechnique, 63(4), 302–312.
Mortensen, B. M., Haber, M. J., DeJong, J. T., Caslake, L. F., and Nelson, D. C. (2011). “Effects of environmental factors on microbial induced calcium carbonate precipitation.” J. Appl. Microbiol., 111(2), 338–349.
Weil, M. H., DeJong, J. T., Martinez, B. C., and Mortensen, B. M. (2012). “Seismic and resistivity measurements for real-time monitoring of microbially induced calcite precipitation in sand.” ASTM J. Geotech. Test., 35(2), 330–341.
Zhao, Q., Li, L., Li, C., Li, M., Amini, F., and Zhang, H. (2014). “Factors affecting improvement of engineering properties of MICP-treated soil catalyzed by bacteria and urease.” J. Mater. Civ. Eng., .
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 143 • Issue 6 • June 2017
Copyright
©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 20, 2016
Accepted: Dec 1, 2016
Published ahead of print: Feb 14, 2017
Published online: Feb 15, 2017
Published in print: Jun 1, 2017
Discussion open until: Jul 15, 2017
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.