A Micromechanical Approach to Modeling Wind Erosion Resistance of Biocemented Sands Under Sand Bombardment
摘要
Wind erosion is a major environmental challenge in arid regions, where sand-grain bombardment under saltation is the dominant mechanism driving surface degradation. Microbially Induced Calcium Carbonate Precipitation (MICP) has recently emerged as an eco-friendly technique for enhancing soil resistance by forming calcite bridges between particles. Given the heterogeneous microstructure of biocemented sands, the Discrete Element Method (DEM) provides a robust framework for resolving grain-scale interactions and impact-driven detachment processes. However, no previous numerical study has directly simulated wind-induced erosion of MICP-treated soils under sand-grain bombardment. In this study, the erosion behavior of MICP-treated sands was numerically investigated using a DEM framework incorporating a linear parallel-bond contact model. Micromechanical parameters were calibrated against unconfined compressive strength (UCS) tests, after which conical specimens were subjected to sand-grain impacts representing the saltation bombardment mechanism. A systematic parametric analysis was performed for different calcite contents (from low calcite content of approximately 1% to high calcite content of 4.3%), various sand-grain impact velocities, and distinct soil gradations. The numerical results demonstrated that untreated specimens experienced complete degradation (≈ 100% mass loss) under sand-grain bombardment. Specimens with low calcite content (≈ 1%) still exhibited severe erosion with mass loss levels around 70%, whereas heavily biocemented specimens with approximately 4.3% calcite content showed a dramatic reduction in erosion, with mass loss limited to about 5%. The DEM predictions closely matched laboratory observations, confirming the capability of the developed model to reproduce impact-driven mass loss, bond breakage patterns, and the overall erosion resistance of MICP-treated sands under saltation-dominated conditions.