Effect of Microbially Induced Calcium Carbonate Precipitation on Swelling and Performance Degradation of Expansive Soil
Bolin Jiang, Shanshan Wu, Feng Huang, Fuchuan Zhou, Xiaobing Li
Abstract
Expansive soils exhibit pronounced behaviors of swelling, shrinkage, and over-consolidation, leading to significant engineering challenges. To address these issues, this study investigated the influence of different cementation solution concentrations on the swelling and mechanical properties of microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP)-treated expansive soils. Additionally, a series of wet–dry cycling experiments were conducted to analyze the performance degradation of the MICP-treated soils under cyclic environmental conditions. The results showed that as the cementation solution concentration increased, the free swell ratio and unconfined swell ratio of the soil samples decreased by 39.29% and 71%, respectively. The unconfined compressive strength, cohesion, and internal friction angle of the MICP-treated soils also exhibited significant improvements, with increases of 391.67%, 33.76%, and 91.67%, respectively. A cementation solution concentration of 1 M was found to be the optimal for achieving substantial enhancements in the soil properties. However, under continuous wet–dry cycling, the mechanical properties of the MICP-treated soils experienced degradation, with the unconfined compressive strength decreasing by up to 62.24%. These findings highlight the potential of MICP as an effective and eco-friendly technique for stabilizing expansive soils.