Use of by-products as additives in adobe bricks: Mechanical properties characterisation

Six by-products are used as additives in adobe bricks to study the variability of mechanical properties by a three level design of experiments and to evaluate optima formulations. Corn plant, fescue, straw, and grounded olive stones are agricultural by-products; and rubber crumbs and polyurethane are wastes used as transport and appliances by-products. Results show that the three-level design of experiments defines properly the governing equations of flexural and compression strength, furthermore it shows the interaction between them. A maximum improvement of 89% and 26% of flexural strength in corn plant and fescue types, respectively, is achieved. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.