MIDP: Liquefaction Mitigation via Microbial Denitrification as a Two-Stage Process. II: MICP
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 143, Issue 12
Abstract
This paper focuses on the potential for microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) via dissimilatory reduction of nitrogen, or denitrification, to mitigate the potential for earthquake-induced soil liquefaction. Denitrification has the potential to provide mitigation of earthquake-induced soil liquefaction as a two-stage process referred to by the authors as microbially induced desaturation and precipitation (MIDP). In MIDP, desaturation provides mitigation in Stage 1 and MICP provides mitigation in Stage 2. Denitrifying bacteria, when stimulated, have the ability to rapidly desaturate a saturated soil via gas production, thereby significantly increasing the cyclic resistance of the soil. However, because this desaturated condition may not last indefinitely, desaturation is only relied upon to provide temporary mitigation in MIDP. In Stage 2 of MIDP, interparticle cementation, void filling, and particle roughening as a result of MICP significantly improve the strength, stiffness, dilatant behavior, and cyclic strength of the soil, thereby providing long-term liquefaction mitigation (i.e., after denitrification has ceased). This paper describes the use of MICP via denitrification for the long-term mitigation of earthquake-induced liquefaction. Desaturation via denitrification for the short-term mitigation of liquefaction potential is presented in a companion paper.
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Acknowledgments
Work described herein was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Geomechanics and Geosystems Engineering and Engineering Research Center programs under Grants CMMI-1233658 and ERC-1449501. The authors are grateful for this support. Any opinions or positions expressed in this article are those of the authors only and do not reflect the opinions or positions of the NSF.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 143 • Issue 12 • December 2017
Copyright
©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 27, 2016
Accepted: Jun 28, 2017
Published online: Oct 13, 2017
Published in print: Dec 1, 2017
Discussion open until: Mar 13, 2018
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