Abstract
Most of the existing studies in microbial geo-technology field are on sandy soils, but most soils in nature are not pure and are usually a mixture of sand and silt or clay. On the other hand, the presence of silt may cause flow of bacterial suspension in the soil structure. Hence, investigation of this issue is very important. In this study, the effect of different concentrations of Sporosarcina pasteurii on the curing time and strength of silty sand was evaluated. Moreover, by keeping effective parameters constant and changing curing time duration, increasing rate of maximum strength was examined. Different methods of sample preparation with regard to the presence of bacteria, nutrients, reactant solution and silt were investigated and the best one was selected. The optimum concentration of bacteria in different samples and the strength of the samples at different curing times were determined by triaxial Consolidated Drained test. To obtain the optimum silt percentage, the strength changes, Mohr circles, cohesion (C) and internal friction angle were presented for each sample. Moreover, the secant stiffness of the samples with different silt percentages and curing times were compared. The ultrasonic test was also conducted and the velocity of wave passing through different samples was determined which can be a parameter to compare the strength and stiffness of the samples. Since calcium carbonate produces a coherent network after the cementation process, the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) images of the samples were also studied for different percentages of silt.
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by AK, IS and HAA. The first draft of the manuscript was written by AK and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Karami, A., Shooshpasha, I. & Alikhani, H.A. Effects of Sporosarcina Pasteurii’s on Curing Time and Strength of Silty Sand Soil. Geotech Geol Eng 41, 3289–3304 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-023-02454-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-023-02454-0