Abstract
Bio-cementation soil treatment technique has shown significant strength improvement in sandy soils rather than clayey soils. In the present study, an attempt was made to examine the unconfined compressive strength (UCS) and Young’s modulus of clayey soil via an environmental friendly bio-cementation process by adding eggshell as a calcium source. Several UCS tests were conducted on two types of clayey soils with varying plasticity with two different bacteria to evaluate the strength parameters under laboratory conditions. The other laboratory tests including calcium carbonate content test and microstructural studies were carried out on treated and untreated clayey soils. Experimental variables fixed in this study were bacteria type, soil type and type and concentration of cementing agents. The experimental test data concluded that the maximum value of unconfined compressive strength, Young’s modulus and calcium carbonate content attained in this study was 0.5 MPa, 15.19 MPa and 9.59%. These maximum values have been attained for CL soil stabilized with Sporosarcina pasteurii bacteria and 0.50 M concentration of eggshell cementing agents. A higher UCS enhancement was observed in CL soil than CI soil, and the improvement was 250.75% higher than untreated CL soil. Sporosarcina pasteurii bacteria stabilized CL and CI soils possess more strength than Lysinibacillus fusiformis bacteria due to higher urease activity (450 U/ml). Further, the SEM images and EDS micrographs pointed out the formation of calcite crystals in the bio-cemented clay soils. Based on the experimental findings, it can be concluded that eggshells can be used for the clay bio-cementation process.
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PK conceptualized the presented idea, derived the methodology, designed and performed the experiments and writing original draft. BS developed the theory, supervised the findings, supported in writing review and editing. SS article drafting and contributed to the final version of the manuscript. AD contributed to final version and supported in writing review and editing the manuscript.
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Kulanthaivel, P., Soundara, B., Selvakumar, S. et al. Effect of bio-cementation on the strength behaviour of clay soils using egg shell as calcium source. Environ Earth Sci 81, 348 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-022-10475-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-022-10475-w