Acta Geotechnica最新文献

{"title":"Long-term monitoring of a microbially induced desaturation field trial in fine-grained soil","authors":"Diane M. Moug,&nbsp;Kayla R. Sorenson,&nbsp;Arash Khosravifar,&nbsp;Edward Kavazanjian Jr.,&nbsp;Leon van Paassen","doi":"10.1007/s11440-025-02813-6","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11440-025-02813-6","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Monitoring data were collected for four years at a microbially induced desaturation (MID) test site in Portland, Oregon. MID is an emerging ground improvement technique for mitigation of liquefaction triggering. In MID, a treatment solution is injected into targeted soils to stimulate native denitrifying microbes that produce nitrogen gas, desaturating the soil. In field trials in the summer of 2019, MID successfully desaturated fine-grained, granular soils to a degree of saturation (<i>S</i>_<i>r</i>) below 98.5% as determined by crosshole pressure wave velocity (<i>V</i>_<i>p</i>) measurements, and to less than 96.6% based on in situ moisture sensor measurements and physical sampling. Monitoring data collected in the four years since the field trial included <i>V</i>_<i>p</i> measurements from a seismic crosshole array, seismic cone penetration test (SCPTu) profiles with <i>V</i>_<i>p</i> measurements, in situ measurements of water content and electrical conductivity, piezocone dissipation tests, groundwater levels, and bulk density measurements on Shelby tube samples. In situ moisture and electrical conductivity sensors, <i>V</i>_<i>p</i> measurements, and soil sampling were all consistent with respect to changes in <i>S</i>_<i>r</i>. Overall, the monitoring data show that a reduction in <i>S</i>_<i>r</i> due to MID treatment was sustained throughout the four-year monitoring period.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49308,"journal":{"name":"Acta Geotechnica","volume":"21 1","pages":"157 - 173"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-10-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146039969","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Biological clogging of soils under radial flow","authors":"Veronica Rebata-Landa,&nbsp;Hyun-Woo Joo,&nbsp;Tae-Hyuk Kwon,&nbsp;J. Carlos Santamarina","doi":"10.1007/s11440-025-02793-7","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11440-025-02793-7","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Biofilm growth on grain surfaces and at pore throats can significantly reduce the hydraulic conductivity of soils. However, most studies on microbially induced soil clogging have been conducted under one-dimensional flow conditions, which often suffer from inlet clogging and deviate from radial flow conditions typically encountered in the field. This study presents an extensive compilation of published results, micromechanical analyses, pore-scale experiments, and macro-scale radial flow experiments. Results show that (1) the presence of bacteria has minimal impact on fluid viscosity, (2) biofilm growth on solid surfaces is constrained by flow velocity within pores, (3) bioclogging in coarse silts and fine sands can reduce hydraulic conductivity by two to three orders of magnitude, (4) bioclogging does not occur under high velocity flow in the near-field of the well, and (5) clogging develops at a characteristic radial distance determined by pore size and flow rate. The presented results provide insight into microbially induced bioclogging in porous media and a unique dataset to further develop novel bioclogging solutions for subsurface hydraulic conductivity barriers and seals.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49308,"journal":{"name":"Acta Geotechnica","volume":"21 2","pages":"607 - 622"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11440-025-02793-7.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147560986","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Resistance of soybean-urease-induced carbonate precipitation-treated aeolian sand under combined rainfall and wind erosions","authors":"Yaqing Gao,&nbsp;Boyang Yan,&nbsp;Jia He,&nbsp;Lei Hang,&nbsp;Liya Wang","doi":"10.1007/s11440-025-02807-4","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11440-025-02807-4","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This study investigated the soybean-urease-induced carbonate precipitation (SICP) technology for aeolian sand stabilization, with focus on evaluating erosion resistance under combined rainfall and wind conditions. First, we conducted SICP reaction and sand cementation tests to optimize the treatment parameters. Then, desert sands treated with these optimized parameters were tested in the rainfall and wind erosions. The SICP-treated specimen achieved best enhancement when prepared using a reaction solution containing 60 g/L soybean urease, and higher or lower urease concentrations gave lower strengths. The treated sand specimens underwent different rainfall conditions (precipitation from 40 to 360 L/m², and wetting–drying cycles up to 10 cycles), followed by the wind erosion tests. After exposure to various rainfall conditions, SICP-treated specimens exhibited different wind erosion resistances. Low-intensity rainfall produced minimal destructive effects on crust stability. After high-density rainfall, the wind erosion rate of SICP-treated specimens reached 471 g/(m² min), which was 7 times higher than that of the control group (no rainfall erosion beforehand). After 10 cycles of wetting–drying erosion, the wind erosion rate reached 841 g/(m² min), which was 13 times higher than the control group. The results imply that, although the SICP treatment had favorable erosion resistance than natural sand under combined rainfall and wind erosions, its erosion performance became noticeably lower than that under pure wind erosion tests. This finding had not been reported previously and should be considered in future engineering practice. Furthermore, degradation mechanisms of SICP-treated sands under rainfall conditions are also discussed.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49308,"journal":{"name":"Acta Geotechnica","volume":"21 3","pages":"1323 - 1336"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147561053","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The variation of large strain viscous rate effects from undrained triaxial element testing of Kaolin clay","authors":"Scott Robinson,&nbsp;Michael J. Brown,&nbsp;Jonathan Knappett,&nbsp;Andrew Brennan,&nbsp;Diego Duran Caballero,&nbsp;Marcos Arroyo","doi":"10.1007/s11440-025-02797-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11440-025-02797-3","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Viscous (undrained) rate effects lead to an increase in the shear strength of fine-grained soils such as clays when sheared at high strain rates. Correct rate effect parameters are key to accurate predictions of behaviour in a range of geotechnical applications, from subsea cable ploughing and rapid load testing of piles through to numerical modelling of offshore foundation systems. The factors influencing the magnitude of rate effects are, however, still poorly understood. Through a series of 100-mm diameter high-speed undrained triaxial tests (strain rates ranging from 300 to 180,000%/hr and initial effective stresses from 300 to 1350 kPa) on Kaolin clay, this paper investigates the influence of the soil state and stress history on rate effects across a wide strain range. Viscous rate effects ranging from 10 to 16% per log cycle are observed, and the liquidity index is observed to correlate to the magnitude of the rate effects. Viscous rate effects are also shown to reduce with increasing strain level, and a model is proposed which allows the rate effect in Kaolin to be predicted accounting for both of these factors. This model is potentially useful in analytical and numerical studies.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49308,"journal":{"name":"Acta Geotechnica","volume":"21 3","pages":"1265 - 1279"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11440-025-02797-3.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147560706","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Analysis of failure characteristics, 3D stress distribution and strength evaluation of rectangular and long coal pillars through analytical solution and numerical simulation with field validation","authors":"Arka Jyoti Das,&nbsp;Prabhat Kumar Mandal,&nbsp;Rana Bhattacharjee,&nbsp;Subhashish Tewari,&nbsp;Nilabjendu Ghosh,&nbsp;Ranjan Kumar","doi":"10.1007/s11440-025-02766-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11440-025-02766-w","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The stress distributions vis-à-vis failure characteristics of rectangular pillars are different from those of square pillars. Most of the studies explicate the characteristics of square pillars by analysing the effects of two geometric parameters, i.e. width and height. However, the effects of a pillar’s length are scanty in the literature. The increase in the length of the rectangular pillar leads to an increase in the strength of the rectangular pillar. Generally, the stability of rectangular pillars is evaluated by incorporating the concept of effective width in the existing strength formulae of square pillars. Nevertheless, existing effective-width formulae tend to overestimate rectangular pillar’s strength, potentially leading to unexpected failures. In this manuscript, a comprehensive study has been carried out for analysis of failure characteristics, 3D stress distribution and evaluation of strength by the concept of effective width of rectangular and long coal pillars. The characteristics of rectangular/long pillars are evaluated and suitable formulae of effective width are developed by the analytical and numerical simulation approaches. Parametric study through numerical modelling reveals that the rectangular pillar’s strength increases with the increase in its length and becomes asymptotic in nature. The results of the numerical simulation are used to derive the formula for effective widths of rectangular/long pillars by regression analysis. The developed formulae are validated by an adequate number of failed and stable rectangular and long pillar conditions. It is found that the existing effective-width formulae do not predict all the cases correctly, while the formulae developed in this study are well validated with the actual conditions of rectangular and long pillars. Thus, this study will help to improve safety through the proper design of rectangular and long pillars by understanding failure characteristics and stress distribution.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49308,"journal":{"name":"Acta Geotechnica","volume":"21 1","pages":"241 - 266"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146039986","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Insight into the role of fines on strength–dilatancy relation of marine coral sand collected from South China Sea","authors":"Xue Li,&nbsp;Jiyun Nan,&nbsp;Xiaoyue Li,&nbsp;Lizhen Feng","doi":"10.1007/s11440-025-02782-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11440-025-02782-w","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>A precise understanding of strength–dilatancy response in marine coral sand containing fines is crucial for ensuring the stability of offshore infrastructure. This study systematically investigates the impact of fines on friction angle and maximum dilatancy angle, as well as their relationship, through meticulously controlled geotechnical tests, complemented by in-depth discussion and interpretation. The findings reveal that as fines content rises, the friction angles at both peak (<span>({varphi }_{text{ps}})</span>) and critical states (<span>({varphi }_{text{cs}})</span>), as well as the excess friction angle (<span>({varphi }_{text{ex}})</span>) and maximum dilatancy angle (<span>({psi }_{text{max}})</span>), show a notable decline. Conversely, a higher relative density leads to an increase in <span>({varphi }_{text{ps}})</span>, <span>({varphi }_{text{cs}})</span>, <span>({varphi }_{text{ex}})</span>, and <span>({psi }_{text{max}})</span>. Additionally, higher stress levels lead to a reduction in <span>({varphi }_{text{ps}})</span> and <span>({psi }_{text{max}})</span>, while their impact on <span>({varphi }_{text{cs}})</span> and <span>({varphi }_{text{ex}})</span> remains inconclusive, possibly due to minimal particle breakage under elevated stress conditions. Furthermore, this study defines the upper and lower bounds of variation in <span>({varphi }_{text{cs}})</span> and <span>({varphi }_{text{ex}})</span> relative to <span>({varphi }_{text{ps}})</span> across different stress levels and density states. The transition region where the mixture shifts from sand-controlled to fines-dominated behavior was examined. A significant observation is the relationship between <span>({varphi }_{text{ex}})</span> and <span>({psi }_{text{max}})</span>, showing that Bolton’s strength–dilatancy theory, initially developed for clean sand, still applies to marine coral sand provided the fines content stays below a specific limit. This insight highlights the necessity of accounting for fines content when applying established dilatancy model to marine coral sand.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49308,"journal":{"name":"Acta Geotechnica","volume":"21 1","pages":"225 - 240"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146039976","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Collapse dynamics of immersed granular columns with various particle–fluid density ratios: Insights from LBM-DEM coupled modelling","authors":"Zhongrong Wang,&nbsp;Annan Zhou,&nbsp;Teng Man,&nbsp;Liangfu Xie,&nbsp;Herbert E. Huppert","doi":"10.1007/s11440-025-02794-6","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11440-025-02794-6","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Unsteady flows of granular materials immersed in viscous fluids are commonly encountered in natural and industrial processes, exhibiting pronounced sensitivity to intrinsic properties of both particles and fluids, such as the particle–fluid density ratio. Understanding their complex dynamics and the underlying mechanisms, especially the intricate particle–fluid interactions at the pore scale, is challenging but crucial. In this study, a high-performance framework coupling the lattice Boltzmann method and discrete element method was employed for immersed granular flows. Experimental measurements of buoyant granular column collapses were taken to validate the accuracy and efficiency of the coupling algorithm. The influence of particle–fluid density ratios on the collapse dynamics of immersed granular columns was explored through macro- and microscopic analysis. Results show that collapses exhibit larger front positions and more efficient energy conversions as particle–fluid density contrasts increase, with floating particles achieving longer runout distances and higher front velocities compared to settling cases. Micromechanical analysis reveals that in settling scenarios, an enhanced contact force network can be formed to inhibit particle sliding during the initial stage, leading to longer collapse durations and slower dynamics, whereas floating columns tend to experience catastrophic failures. Furthermore, the particle Stokes number (<i>St</i>) serves as a governing parameter for immersed granular flows, exhibiting a strong power-law correlation with the normalized runout distance across various length scales.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49308,"journal":{"name":"Acta Geotechnica","volume":"21 1","pages":"371 - 394"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-10-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146039977","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Physics-informed neural network for elastic–plastic mesh-free modelling of tunnelling-induced deformation","authors":"Zilong Zhang,&nbsp;Daniel Dias,&nbsp;Cosmin Anitescu,&nbsp;Qiujing Pan,&nbsp;Timon Rabczuk","doi":"10.1007/s11440-025-02788-4","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11440-025-02788-4","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The complexity of engineering problems generally makes it challenging to obtain explicit physical formulations and sufficient monitoring data. For the issue of shallow tunnelling-induced deformation, it is difficult to obtain an explicit analytical solution due to the anisotropy of in situ stress, asymmetric free surface boundary, and complicated elastic–plastic response. Physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) have demonstrated excellent capability in resolving boundary value problems. In this context, a data-driven and physics-informed neural network is developed to predict tunnelling-induced deformation. The underlying elastic–plastic governing equations and boundary constraints of a shallow-buried tunnel are encoded into a deep neural network framework, which is divided into two independent regions according to the Mohr–Coulomb yield criterion, ensuring that constitutive relations are executed in elastic and plastic regions separately. To mitigate nonlinearity and stress concentration effects, a global adaptive sampling strategy guided by probability distributions is introduced, which ensures a more efficient approach to enforcing physics laws. Comparisons between the analytical and PINN-based solutions of deformation induced by deep tunnel excavation demonstrate the robust performance of the proposed model, especially with the implementation of a global adaptive sampling strategy. For the solution of shallow tunnelling-induced ground deformation, the adaptive PINN model can accurately reproduce the elastic–plastic ground settlement fields with sparse labelled data. The data mining and physical information exchange character of the proposed adaptive PINN model demonstrates the promising potential of the scientific machine learning method in addressing engineering issues.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49308,"journal":{"name":"Acta Geotechnica","volume":"21 1","pages":"349 - 370"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11440-025-02788-4.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146039989","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Degradation characteristics of sandstone with inclined biotreated fractures under dry–wet cycles","authors":"Yang Xiao,&nbsp;Hanghang Zhao,&nbsp;Huanran Wu,&nbsp;Musharraf Zaman,&nbsp;Hanlong Liu","doi":"10.1007/s11440-025-02792-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11440-025-02792-8","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The durability of materials treated with the microbiologically induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) technique has garnered increasing attention in the field of geotechnical engineering. A series of studies have been reported on the durability of biotreated soils, but relatively little attention has been focused on the durability of MICP-treated rock fractures, especially on the microscopic degradation characteristics. In this study, surface characterization, mass measurement, Brazilian splitting tests, and nitrogen adsorption tests were conducted on the specimens subjected to dry–wet cycles to investigate the multiscale degradation characteristics of sandstone with biotreated fractures. The surface of the specimen displayed loss of fines and dissolution of calcium carbonate with increasing number of dry–wet cycles, which resulted in decreasing mass, reducing tensile strength, and increasing specific surface area. The different trends in the variations of the surface fractal dimension and pore-structure fractal dimension indicate that the increase in micropores and complexity of pore structure are the main characteristics in the early stages of dry–wet cycling, followed by a significant increase in surface roughness. This study suggests the benefits of early repair for the sustainability of MICP-treated rock fractures in dry–wet cycle environments.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49308,"journal":{"name":"Acta Geotechnica","volume":"21 1","pages":"31 - 39"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146039983","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A coupled thermal–hydraulic–mechanical–biochemical–damage model for microbially induced carbonate precipitation in horizontal curtain formation for deep excavation","authors":"Sharif Nyanzi Alidekyi,&nbsp;Jianxiu Wang,&nbsp;Weiqiang Pan,&nbsp;Xingzhong Nong,&nbsp;Jian Huang,&nbsp;Xiaoqing Wang","doi":"10.1007/s11440-025-02787-5","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11440-025-02787-5","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) has emerged as a sustainable technique for constructing horizontal curtains in deep excavations, offering both hydraulic efficiency and environmental benefits. The MICP process is generally governed by complex bio-chemo-hydro-mechanical interactions. However, in practical applications, the injection of bacterial and chemical solutions through pumping and recharge wells induces elevated pore pressures, alters local stress fields, and may initiate microcracking, affecting soil integrity. Moreover, temperature variations significantly influence MICP kinetics and efficiency. Existing models inadequately address these coupled effects, particularly the thermal and damage phenomena. This study presents a comprehensive thermal–hydraulic–mechanical–biochemical–damage (THMBCD) model that integrates temperature-dependent behavior and damage mechanics to simulate the MICP-based formation of horizontal curtains for deep excavation. The model incorporates microstructural changes and fracture evolution based on damage theory. Validation is achieved through experimental data and analytical solutions. Parametric studies reveal that higher bacterial and chemical concentrations, along with increased injection temperatures, enhance calcite precipitation and stiffness while reducing the damage ratio. Among these factors, bacterial concentration exhibits the most pronounced influence. This study offers critical insights into the complex coupled THMBCD mechanisms governing the MICP treatment process during horizontal curtain formation in deep excavations, thereby advancing its applicability in real-world geotechnical engineering design.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49308,"journal":{"name":"Acta Geotechnica","volume":"20 12","pages":"6239 - 6271"},"PeriodicalIF":5.7,"publicationDate":"2025-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145449509","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}