Recent advances in nature?inspired solutions for ground engineering (NiSE)

• Published in: International Journal of Geosynthetics and Ground Engineering
• Main Author: O'Kelly, Brendan
• Other Authors: Royal Society, DST-NRF NFPF170627245562
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Biomimicry; Soil; Improvement; Self-heal; Natural; Smart & Sustainable Planet; ARCTIC SOILS; Constitutive modelling in geotechnical engineering; Environmental Geotechnics; GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING; Geotechnics; SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION; SOIL CONTAMINATION; SOIL DEFORMATION; SOIL FAUNA; SOIL HYDRAULIC-PROPERTIES; SOIL MODIFICATION; SOIL PARAMETERS; SOIL PRODUCTION; SOIL PROPERTIES; SOIL STRUCTURE; SOIL WATER; SOIL-MOISTURE; Soil Mechanics & Foundations; Soil Sciences; Conservation; Erosion; Soil carbon sequestration; Soil processes; Soil remediation; UNSATURATED SOIL; geotechnical; nature inspired; Arctic
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2262/98188; http://people.tcd.ie/bokelly; https://doi.org/10.1007/s40891-021-00349-9

PUBLISHED 2022 Editor?s Choice Paper The ground is a natural grand system; it is composed of myriad constituents that aggregate to form several geologic and biogenic systems. These systems operate independently and interplay harmoniously via important networked structures over multiple spatial and temporal scales. This paper presents arguments and derivations couched by the authors, to first give a better understanding of these intertwined networked structures, and then to give an insight of why and how these can be imitated to develop a new generation of nature-symbiotic ground engineering techniques. The paper draws on numerous recent advances made by the authors, and others, in imitating forms (e.g. synthetic fibres that imitate plant roots), materials (e.g. living composite materials, or living soil that imitate fungi and microbes), generative processes (e.g. managed decomposition of construction rubble to mimic weathering of aragonites to calcites), and functions (e.g. recreating the self-healing, self-producing, and self-forming capacity of natural systems). Advances are reported in three categories of Materials, Models, and Methods (3Ms). A novel value-based appraisal tool is also presented, providing a means to vet the effectiveness of 3Ms as standalone units or in combinations.