Finite element simulation of biocement precipitation in soils
Finite element simulation of biocement precipitation in soils
Microbially induced calcite precipitation is a soil reinforcement technique where bacteria are used to produce calcium carbonate, precipitated after the hydrolysis of urea promoted by the enzyme urease present in the microorganisms. This biocement clogs the soil pores and bonds its grains, increasing the soil strength and stiffness and decreasing its permeability. A two-phase porous medium model is created to analyse the precipitation process, where each phase has several species. The solid phase is composed by soil particles, bacteria and calcite while the fluid phase contains water, urea and other dissolved species that are present in the biochemical reaction. A finite element formulation embodying water seepage, advective diffusion of species and soil deformation is proposed to compute the generation of solid mass (the biocement), and a numerical simulation is presented to analyse the process under a given set of boundary conditions.
V. S. Terra; F. M. F. Simoes,; Rafaela Cardoso
18th European Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ECSMGE2024)
D - Current and new construction methods
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