Agarose gel as a soil analogue for development of advanced bio-mediated soil improvement methods
Agarose gel as a soil analogue for development of advanced bio-mediated soil improvement methods
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DOI：
10.1139/cgj-2019-0496
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发表时间：
2020-12-01
影响因子：
3.6
通讯作者：
Maiello, Pietro
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Corral, Javier Rodriguez;Mitrani, Helen;Maiello, Pietro
生物介导的土壤改良方法（使用生物过程的方法）具有潜在的低成本和环境影响，但可能难以控制以确保有效的结果，特别是在使用工程细菌的情况下。提出了一种使用琼脂糖凝胶作为土壤类似物的新应用，它可以通过再现相关的机械性能来开发先进的生物介导的土壤改良方法，同时允许在土壤测试之前详细研究复杂的生物过程。预计在开发早期原型方法时将使用琼脂糖凝胶代替土壤，因为它提供了促进细菌生长和监测的理想环境。提出了在琼脂糖低熔点 (LM) 凝胶上进行岩土工程测试和扫描电子显微镜的程序。结果表明，软粘土和泥炭的孔径、不排水强度和渗透性相当，但应力应变行为更线性，压缩率更高。本文提供了这一新颖概念的证明，但需要进一步研究，因为仅测试了单一浓度的单一类型的琼脂糖。通过改变这些因素以及使用不同的溶剂，有很大的潜力可以根据特定的土壤或施工场景调整类似物的行为。
Bio-mediated soil improvement methods (those that use biological processes) have potentially low cost and environmental impact, but can be difficult to control to ensure effective results, especially if engineered bacteria are used. A novel application of using agarose gel as a soil analogue is proposed, which can enable development of advanced bio-mediated soil improvement methods by reproducing relevant mechanical properties while allowing complex biological processes to be studied in detail, before testing in soils. It is envisaged that agarose gel will be used instead of soil when developing early-stage prototype methods, as it provides an ideal environment to facilitate growth and monitoring of bacteria. A programme of geotechnical tests and scanning electron microscopy on Agarose Low Melt (LM) gel is presented. The results demonstrate comparable pore size, undrained strength, and permeability to soft clays and peats, but more linear stress-strain behaviour and higher compressibility. This paper offers proof of this novel concept, but further investigation is required as only a single type of agarose, at a single concentration is tested. By varying these factors, along with use of different solvents, there is significant potential to tune the behaviour of the analogue to particular soils or construction scenarios.