Behaviour of loose sand treated using bio-gelation method

Bio-gelation is a new method for improving the hydraulic and mechanical properties of sandy soil through the production of polymeric gel to fill in the pores of soil. In this paper, a study on the engineering behaviour of loose sand treated using this method is presented. A series of permeability an...

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Main Authors: Wang, Kangda, Chu, Jian, Wu, Shifan, He, Jia
Other Authors: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/161767
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author Wang, Kangda
Chu, Jian
Wu, Shifan
He, Jia
author2 School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
author_facet School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Wang, Kangda
Chu, Jian
Wu, Shifan
He, Jia
author_sort Wang, Kangda
collection NTU
description Bio-gelation is a new method for improving the hydraulic and mechanical properties of sandy soil through the production of polymeric gel to fill in the pores of soil. In this paper, a study on the engineering behaviour of loose sand treated using this method is presented. A series of permeability and undrained monotonic and cyclic triaxial tests were carried out on both clean sand and bio-gelled sand. The test results showed that the coefficient of permeability was reduced by 3 to 4 orders of magnitude in the bio-gelled sand samples, and the higher the alginate concentration, the lower the permeability. In the monotonic triaxial tests, sand samples that would have liquefied under static conditions manifested strain-hardening behaviour after treatment. The shear strength of the bio-gelled sand also increased as was indicated by an increase in the slope of the failure line from 1.08 to 1.27. In the cyclic triaxial tests, the number of cycles at failure increased from 183 for clean sand to 485 for bio-gelled sand, and the excess pore water pressure response was also much reduced. The hydrogel produced by the bio-gelation process was stable under both hydrostatic and seepage conditions. The other advantages of the bio-gelation method include 1) the massive formation of hydrogel can be controlled to be 28 hours later after injection, 2) the pH value of soil fluid can be maintained at neutral and 3) it is cost-effective for liquefaction or seepage control for sand compared with other conventional methods.
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spelling ntu-10356/1617672022-09-19T07:47:32Z Behaviour of loose sand treated using bio-gelation method Wang, Kangda Chu, Jian Wu, Shifan He, Jia School of Civil and Environmental Engineering Engineering::Civil engineering Laboratory Tests Liquefaction Bio-gelation is a new method for improving the hydraulic and mechanical properties of sandy soil through the production of polymeric gel to fill in the pores of soil. In this paper, a study on the engineering behaviour of loose sand treated using this method is presented. A series of permeability and undrained monotonic and cyclic triaxial tests were carried out on both clean sand and bio-gelled sand. The test results showed that the coefficient of permeability was reduced by 3 to 4 orders of magnitude in the bio-gelled sand samples, and the higher the alginate concentration, the lower the permeability. In the monotonic triaxial tests, sand samples that would have liquefied under static conditions manifested strain-hardening behaviour after treatment. The shear strength of the bio-gelled sand also increased as was indicated by an increase in the slope of the failure line from 1.08 to 1.27. In the cyclic triaxial tests, the number of cycles at failure increased from 183 for clean sand to 485 for bio-gelled sand, and the excess pore water pressure response was also much reduced. The hydrogel produced by the bio-gelation process was stable under both hydrostatic and seepage conditions. The other advantages of the bio-gelation method include 1) the massive formation of hydrogel can be controlled to be 28 hours later after injection, 2) the pH value of soil fluid can be maintained at neutral and 3) it is cost-effective for liquefaction or seepage control for sand compared with other conventional methods. Nanyang Technological University National Research Foundation (NRF) The authors would like to acknowledge gratefully the support from the National Research Foundation, Singapore under the Grant No. COT-V1-2020-4 and the Centre for Urban Solutions, Nanyang Technological University. 2022-09-19T07:47:32Z 2022-09-19T07:47:32Z 2022 Journal Article Wang, K., Chu, J., Wu, S. & He, J. (2022). Behaviour of loose sand treated using bio-gelation method. Geotechnique, 1-17. https://dx.doi.org/10.1680/jgeot.21.00174 0016-8505 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/161767 10.1680/jgeot.21.00174 2-s2.0-85129209090 1 17 en COT-V1-2020-4 Geotechnique © 2022 Thomas Telford Ltd. All rights reserved.
spellingShingle Engineering::Civil engineering
Laboratory Tests
Liquefaction
Wang, Kangda
Chu, Jian
Wu, Shifan
He, Jia
Behaviour of loose sand treated using bio-gelation method
title Behaviour of loose sand treated using bio-gelation method
title_full Behaviour of loose sand treated using bio-gelation method
title_fullStr Behaviour of loose sand treated using bio-gelation method
title_full_unstemmed Behaviour of loose sand treated using bio-gelation method
title_short Behaviour of loose sand treated using bio-gelation method
title_sort behaviour of loose sand treated using bio gelation method
topic Engineering::Civil engineering
Laboratory Tests
Liquefaction
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/161767
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AT chujian behaviourofloosesandtreatedusingbiogelationmethod
AT wushifan behaviourofloosesandtreatedusingbiogelationmethod
AT hejia behaviourofloosesandtreatedusingbiogelationmethod