Numerical Study of MICP Infiltration and Mineralization in Unsaturated Soils: CaCO3 Distribution and Critical Depth
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 24, Issue 11
Abstract
Rainfall, evaporation, tides and waves make the soil at coastlines show dynamic unsaturated characteristics. In order to cope with landslides, collapses, and coastline receding, microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) was recently implemented to reinforce the soil in slopes and coastal zones using a spraying method. However, most of the researches on MICP focus on soil with a static saturation degree, and there are few numerical researches about the MICP reactions under dynamic saturation degree. Therefore, a coupled numerical model capable of describing the evolutions of bacteria, substance, calcium carbonate (CaCO3), porosity, and permeability in unsaturated soil over time reasonably was developed based on the convective–diffusion–reaction theory and the Richards’ equation. The effect of MICP reactions on the parameters α, n, θs, θr in van Genuchten-Mualem (VG) model was considered. A large cylinder test (30 × 75 cm) about reinforcing sand based on the spraying method was carried out to validate the model. The CaCO3 distribution of the MICP infiltration and mineralization was fully reproduced and the concept of critical depth (Zcr) was proposed. The initial porosity, initial bacterial concentration, and spraying rate were the main parameters affecting the CaCO3 distribution and critical depth Zcr. When the bacterial concentration increased, the maximum CaCO3 content, critical depth Zcr, and normalized permeability coefficient (k/k0) indicated exponential increase, exponential increase, and exponential decrease. The saturated permeability coefficient of the sand was determined by the maximum calcium carbonate. The normalized permeability coefficient (k/k0) and critical depth Zcr showed an exponential decrease and a power function increase with the increase of the maximum CaCO3 content.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the support from the National Key R&D Program of China (2022YFB2602800), the Postdoctoral Fellowship Program of CPSF (GZC20241516), and the Natural Science Foundation of Zhejiang Province (LR22E080005).
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Information
Published In
International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 24 • Issue 11 • November 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 30, 2023
Accepted: May 28, 2024
Published online: Sep 10, 2024
Published in print: Nov 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Feb 10, 2025
ASCE Technical Topics:
- [Inorganic compounds]
- Bacteria
- Calcium carbonate
- Chemicals
- Chemistry
- Environmental engineering
- Geomechanics
- Geotechnical engineering
- Organic compounds
- Organic compounds
- Permeability (soil)
- Pollutants
- Pollution
- Saturated soils
- Soft soils
- Soil dynamics
- Soil mechanics
- Soil pollution
- Soil properties
- Soil stabilization
- Soil treatment
- Soils (by type)
- Unsaturated soils
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