The Effect of Incorporating Recycled Materials on the Load–Deformation Behaviour of Earth for Buildings

Abstract

The research discussed in this paper presents the results of a series of compression tests conducted on test cylinders and a limited number of compressed stabilized earth blocks (CSEB) with varying amounts of recycled materials. These included expanded polystyrene (EPS), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), paper and cardboard. A subset of specimens was heated to investigate load–deformation behaviour. Compressive strengths ranged from 1.12 to 2.25 MPa for EPS specimens, while the PET specimens had a range of 1.23–2.23 MPa. A range of 2.31–5.17 MPa was found for the CSEB specimens.