An investigation into the influence of geometry on compressed earth building blocks using finite element analysis

This paper presents a parametric investigation into the influence of geometry on the compressive and flexural strength of un-stabilised compressed earth blocks (CEBs). Three CEBs with dissimilar geometric properties were manufactured and subjected to physical testing and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) using ANSYS Workbench 19.1. The compressive and flexural strength of the CEBs were shown to be dependent on their geometric properties and ranged from 3.74 to 6.73 MPa and 0.63-1.31 MPa respectively. A modified Solid65 element command was utilised within the FEA and was shown to successfully replicate the non-linear elasto-plastic behaviour observed in physical testing. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.