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Updated: Oct 22, 2025

Sandy Soil Improvement through Microbially Induced Calcite Precipitation MICP by Immersion
Published on: September 12, 2019
Tensile Strength of Artificially Cemented Sandstone Generated via Microbially Induced Carbonate Precipitation
Charalampos Konstantinou1, Giovanna Biscontin1, Fotios Logothetis1
1Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1PZ, UK.
Abstract:
Artificially bio-cemented sands treated with microbially induced calcite precipitation are weakly cemented rocks representing intermediate materials between locked and carbonate sands. Variations in cementation significantly affect the strength of sample, particularly tensile stregth. The modes of fracture and the surface characteristics resulting from the indirect tensile strength tests (Brazilian tests) are strongly correlated with the specimen strength and consequently the degree of cementation. This study examines the tensile strength of bio-cemented fine and coarse sands (average particle diameter 0.18 and 1.82 mm, respectively) and investigates failure modes by recording fracture evolution at both sides of specimen and surface characteristics of the reconstructed surfaces. The dimensionless slope parameter Z2 provided the best fit with respect to tensile strength while the power spectral density was a good indicator of surface anisotropy. Finally, wavelet decomposition allowed for comparison of fracture surface characteristics of the two sands ignoring the grain size effects.
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