Improvement of pile foundation using MICP

PhD student

Haotian Pei

Supervisors

Prof Yinghui Tian	Dr Tingfa Liu University of Bristol	Dr Shifan Wu

Project Start Date: November 2025

Project Details

Pile foundations are widely regarded as the most cost-effective solution for supporting offshore wind turbines in shallow waters. However, many of these coastal regions are underlain by calcareous sand—a material composed of fragile biogenic particles that are highly susceptible to crushing under load. This particle breakage can result in extremely low pile bearing capacity. Although drilled & grouted piles are commonly adopted in the oil and gas industry to address this issue, their high cost and carbon footprint make them less suitable for large-scale deployment in the offshore wind sector. This highlights an urgent need for more economical and environmentally sustainable alternatives. To fill this gap, current project investigates the use of a bio-mediated method to improve pile foundations in calcareous sand, namely Microbially Induced Calcium Carbonate Precipitation (MICP). The research first aims to understand the complex interactions between piles and crushable calcareous sand, in order to identify the fundamental mechanisms governing the observed low bearing capacity. Building on this understanding, the study then seeks to develop optimized MICP grouting strategies and evaluate their effectiveness in improving pile performance. This work is expected to contribute to the development of a technical framework for safer and more cost-effective pile foundations.