No Airfield? No Problem.
By MS. LAUREN SCHATZ, STAFF WRITER
Imagine landing in an austere location—no structures or people in sight. All that keeps you company in this barren stretch of land is clear blue skies, sandy soil, and your crew. In a fraction of the time normally associated with creating aircraft support areas, the Agile Combat Employment (ACE) team creates airfield infrastructure capable of supporting deployed operations. This construction was completed with relatively little equipment and materials.
Operations take place at this location for only a few months before moving on to the next spot—using agility to minimize the adversary’s threat to operations. The temporary airfield is quickly pulverized, leaving hardly a footprint behind.
Although this scenario may sound far-fetched, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is striving to make it a reality through a unique technology—biocement. The formation of this material is a surprisingly simple, two-step process. Spraying bacteria and chemicals into the soil generates a reaction causing the particles to bind together. Repeating this process can create anything from building blocks to parking ramps to, eventually, airfields. Although the procedure is fairly straightforward, the applications are endless.
Three members of AFRL, Dr. Maneesh Gupta, Dr. Chia Hung, and Dr. Christopher Tabor, are advancing this technology. The scientists are leading several projects that could revolutionize how infrastructure is constructed. This leap forward into the future of construction is tied to taking a step back and observing the natural world. The researchers say they are utilizing the biochemistry that is built into nature to their advantage and using aggregates that are already present in the environment.
Working with the private sector, AFRL is striving to advance the use of biocement. Gupta, a research materials engineer, and Hung, a biochemist, are leading two projects—one focuses on the commercial applications for biocement and the other seeks to automate the applications. Tabor is a materials chemist who leads AFRL’s advanced development team, which encompasses both of these projects.
Although the group has been interested in bioengineering for years, it was a project from the company Biomason, Inc. that spurred their involvement in biocement. Biomason aims to significantly reduce global carbon dioxide emissions by using the biocementation process, as traditional concrete production accounts for 8 percent of the worldwide carbon dioxide output. Biomason, with Department of Defense support, experimented with the Engineered Living Materials program, which used living organisms to make materials for infrastructure, such as concrete that “self-heals” when exposed to ocean water.
This effort caught the eye of Air University’s Blue Horizons program, which investigated the idea of using biocement sprayed on the ground to create hardened infrastructure for aircraft. In 2019, “Project Medusa” tested the concept, starting in small, 2-ft. x 2-ft. boxes and then expanding to a 2,500-sq.-ft. site. Both plots successfully “grew” hardened soil.
“The sustainability of that concept and the radically different way that they did this research compared to the way normal infrastructure materials are made is what really caught my interest and got me interested in what we’re currently working on,” Gupta said.
Through AFRL, Gupta, Hung, and Tabor continue to work with the private sector, with companies such as Biomason, remaining strongly focused on the military applications of the technology. “Our role as members of AFRL is to think into the future of what the Air Force is going to need,” Tabor explained.
The projects focus on rapidly making locations operational, reducing the amount of materials, equipment, and personnel needed to set up sites. “For us, it’s how can this formation be done faster with less logistics compared to conventional infrastructure type of materials?” Gupta explained. Clearly, biocement could be extremely helpful in supporting Air Mobility Command’s (AMC) mission to provide rapid, global mobility and sustainment for America’s Armed Forces and is key to the Air Force’s future fight.
In recent years, the Air Force has been incorporating ACE, a concept focused on operating out of multiple locations and the rapid movement between those airfields. With highly capable adversaries such as China and Russia in mind, ACE complicates the adversary’s ability to defend. Biocement could play an enormous role in this evolution.
To better understand how biocement could help, the scientists’ team held a workshop at the 2021 Mobility Guardian, Air Mobility Command’s premier, large-scale mobility exercise, and presented their research to a group of Airmen of various disciplines.
“The workshop was really helpful for us,” Gupta said. “We got an opportunity to speak with quite a few Airmen.”
The Airmen had an array of questions, ranging from technical to practical:
How exactly does biocement work?
A soil enzyme, urease, reacts with urea and calcium chloride to form calcium carbonate (cement).
What kind of soil does this process work best in?
Permeable soil, such as sand. Clay does not work as well.
How does the storing process work?
The chemicals are easily stored, as they are nontoxic and stable. When stored, the bacteria go into a dormant state, allowing for long-term storage.
They were also asked questions they had not considered before. The scientists recalled a conversation with a team of civil engineers who were eager to discuss how biocement could solve some of the problems they were facing. The Airmen identified applications in which biocement could be used, such as stabilizing cargo storage areas. Gupta explained how these conversations have supported their research:
“I think that hearing input from field-seasoned civil engineers discussing their thoughts on additional applications, pulling from their operational experience, was really important and has been very beneficial for us. We are typically in the lab, working on materials that are pretty early in the development cycle. Oftentimes, we have to imagine how the materials will be utilized, but many of us do not have the operational background or experience to think through that. Therefore, one of the primary benefits of talking to the people who would be the ones carrying out the use was the really significant insight.”
The AFRL team also wanted to learn more about current operations—how Airmen repair runways, build new facilities, connect with one another, send information on how much material is needed, and more. This information helps AFRL target their research to address the challenges in the field, which ultimately leads to better tools for the warfighter.
“Utilizing the environment is a method of lowering manpower,” Tabor said. “Understanding how that can be employed by talking to the potential users and seeing what their pinch points are is where we can add in functionality through biochemistry rather than manpower. That kind of information was invaluable to us just to interface with that community.”
Tabor said he looks forward to a day when this technology is fully automated and not viewed as “science fiction.” Biocement has the potential to positively affect countless areas—both public and private. Whether it is support to AMC or its positive environmental impact, biocement will help support the warfighter of the future.
Readers, are there any issues you face that could benefit from this solid solution? Do you have any ideas for applications? The team is always seeking and welcomes insight. They can be emailed at [email protected].