Collaborative Research: Enhancement of Vertical Elements for Foundation Support by Ureolytic Carbonate Precipitation

这个合作项目的目标是探索解解石沉淀的潜力，作为一种实用的手段来提高沙土和淤泥地基的垂直支撑元件的能力。增强基础支撑的垂直单元有望成为生物诱导碳酸盐降水在岩土工程中的第一个实际应用。这项工作的一个关键要素是探索使用农业衍生的脲酶作为方解石沉淀的催化剂，而不是迄今为止报道的所有方解石沉淀研究中使用的微生物衍生的脲酶。提高垂直基础支撑单元所需的改善区范围有限，减轻了由诱导碳酸盐降水引起的土壤质量稳定问题。使用农业来源的脲酶可以进一步缓解质量稳定中遇到的一些问题，并将可通过诱导碳酸盐沉淀稳定的土壤范围扩大到粉砂大小的颗粒范围。该项目的主要广泛影响与生物介导的地面改善的实际应用的发展有关。开发该技术的实际应用（生物介导的碳酸盐沉淀）是一项潜在的变革性成就，加速了生物地球化学地面改善技术的发展，并推动了生物岩土工程新兴领域的进一步创新发展。将生物介导的碳酸盐沉淀的适用性扩展到泥沙大小的颗粒范围内，其本身也将对岩土工程的广泛领域和新兴的生物岩土工程分支学科产生广泛的影响。该项目还将通过支持研究生研究助理，特别是通过培训和教育对生物岩土工程中通常不用于传统岩土工程研究的技术和程序具有知识和能力的新研究人员，对岩土工程专业人员的培训和教育作出贡献。

The objective of this collaborative project is to explore the potential of ureolytic calcite precipitation as a practical means of improving the capacity of vertical support elements for foundations in sands and silts. Enhancement of vertical elements for foundation support holds promise as the first practical application of biologically induced carbonate precipitation in geotechnical engineering. A key element of the work is exploring the use of agriculturally-derived urease enzyme as the catalyst for calcite precipitation rather than microbially-derived urease employed in all calcite precipitation studies reported to date. The limited extent of the improvement zone required to enhance vertical foundation support elements mitigates problems associated with mass stabilization of soil by induced carbonate precipitation. The use of agriculturally-derived urease can further mitigate some of the problems encountered in mass stabilization and extend the range of soils that can be stabilized by induced carbonate precipitation into the silt-sized particle range. The primary broader impact of this project is associated with the development of a practical application of bio-mediated ground improvement. Developing a practical application for this technology (bio-mediated carbonate precipitation) is a potentially transformative accomplishment, accelerating the development of biogeochemical ground improvement techniques and motivating further innovative developments in the emerging field of biogeotechnical engineering. Extending the applicability of bio-mediated carbonate precipitation into the silt-sized particle range would also have, in and of itself, a broad impact on both the broad field of geotechnical engineering and the emerging sub-discipline of biogeotechnical engineering. The project will also make contributions to training and education of geotechnical professional through support of graduate student research assistants and, in particular, through training and education of new researchers knowledgeable and competent in the techniques and procedures employed in biogeotechnical engineering that are not usually employed in traditional geotechnical research.