A comprehensive study of mechanical properties of compressed earth blocks

Currently, Compressed Earth Blocks (CEBs) are becoming more interesting owing to their sustainability characteristics. However, there is still no consensus on the procedure to measure its mechanical properties. Thus, an advanced study on the measurement of mechanical properties of a type of CEB was conducted. With respect to compressive strength, block units and cubes with different edge lengths, under various contact states were tested. The results show that the whole block capped with rubber is the appropriate procedure to obtain the real compressive strength. Moreover, there exists an abnormal size effect, which could be related to a possible damage of the cubes cut from the blocks.