The membrane fouling mechanism was studied in treating succinic acid fermentation broth during dead-end ultrafiltration. Different membranes were used and two models were applied to analyze the fouling mechanism. Resistance-in-series model was applied to determine the main factor that caused the operation resistance. Results indicated that most membranes tended to be fouled by cake layer or concentration polarization. Hermia's model, which is composed of four individual sub-models, was used to analyze the predominant fouling mechanism. Results showed that the fouling of RC 10 kDa and PES 30 kDa was controlled by the complete blocking mechanism, while PES 100 kDa was controlled by the intermediate blocking and PES 10 kDa was controlled by cake layer. This conclusion was also proved by SEM photos. Membrane characteristics were monitored before and after ultrafiltration by AFM and goniometer. Both contact angle and roughness of most membranes increased after ultrafiltration. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.