article · Global Journal of Engineering and Technology Advances
Stabilised earth blocks provide an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional building units, but they often lack sufficient strength and water resistance. To address this, an experimental study evaluated the addition of cement and wood fibre composites to earth block mixtures. Testing evaluated varied combinations of cement up to 8 percent and wood fibre up to 2.5 percent, alongside standard soil characterisation tests. The results demonstrated that incorporating cement alongside wood fibre up to an optimum level of 1.5 percent significantly improved performance, raising compressive strength by 64.88 percent and flexural strength by 41.67 percent over unreinforced blocks. Fibre additions beyond 1.5 percent caused structural degradation. Furthermore, raising cement levels steadily decreased the water absorption capacity of the blocks by reducing material porosity, confirming the viability of this mixture for sustainable building.
Earth blocks offer an eco-friendly and affordable way to build, but they are vulnerable to moisture and structural weakness. By identifying precise ratios of cement and wood fibre, builders can significantly strengthen soil-based materials. This approach supports sustainable, low-cost building by improving durability while maintaining the environmental benefits of locally sourced soil.
This research is at an applied and tested laboratory stage, presenting a defined mix formulation for building construction. It could enable material manufacturers and local building contractors to produce stronger, water-resistant blocks using local soil and wood fibre additives. Moving closer to real-world deployment would require larger scale production trials and long-term durability assessments under varying environmental conditions.
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Stabilized earth blocks are attracting renewed interest throughout the world thanks to its "green" characteristics in the context of sustainable development. However, these blocks often exhibit limitations in terms of mechanical strength and water resistance properties. The current challenge lies in finding effective stabilization techniques that can enhance the performance of earth blocks. without compromising their eco-friendly nature or significantly increasing costs. This project was aimed at investigating and developing effective stabilization techniques using wood fiber-cement composites to enhance the mechanical properties (compressive strength, flexural strength) and water resistance characteristics (water absorption) of earth blocks. This project involved experimental studies such as particle size analysis, moisture content, organic content, specific gravity, dry density, plasticity index and a mix design, compressive strength test, flexural strength test, water absorption test with cement percentages of 0%, 2%, 4%, 6% ,8% and 0%, 1%, 1.5%, 2%, 2.5% wood fiber composite. The results obtained showed that increasing the cement content and the wood fiber content to 1.5% leads to an increase in the compressive strength of 64.88% and flexural strength of 41.67% compared to the reference at 0%. However, beyond 1.5% wood fiber content, the compressive and flexural strength experiences a degradation. The waster absorption capacity of the block generally decreases as the cement content increases due to a reduction in the porosity of the block. This formulation can therefore be used in construction of buildings in areas where use of locally available soil resources will promote environmentally friendly and cost-effective building practices.
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DOI: 10.30574/gjeta.2025.24.3.0283
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