Study on Low-Strength Biocemented Sands Using a Temperature-Controlled MICP (Microbially Induced Calcite Precipitation) Method

Abstract

MICP (Microbially Induced Calcite Precipitation) technique is recently known as a new research area in geotechnical engineering. This technique provides a more environmentally way to enhancing the soil strength and stiffness by the MICP process in the soil pores. However, the spatial uniformity of MICP in the treated sands, which determines the effectiveness of MICP technique, remains a challenging issue even in the laboratory tests, especially for low-strength biocemented sands. Noting that the MICP process could be greatly inhibited under low temperatures before the homogeneous conditions of MICP reactions is achieved in sands, a temperature-controlled MICP method is proposed in this paper to improve the MICP uniformity in low-strength biocemented sands. A series of temperature-controlled MICP tests are made and the results are compared with the MICP tests under a constant temperature.