Effect of fiber gradation on the edge bearing strength of bamboo culms

Bhavna Sharma, Kent A. Harries

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Citations (SciVal)

Abstract

Standardization, and thereby acceptance of any construction material requires years of testing and analysis. For structural bamboo, prototype model standards, in the form of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) documents on bamboo design, testing and construction are available. While these provide useful guidelines, an important and often overlooked consideration in developing test methods is that these must be usable and reliably repeatable in the environment in which they are most expected likely to be used. The present work investigates the potential for adopting the relatively simple-to-conduct edge bearing test as an indirect means of obtaining the critical, although otherwise difficult-to-obtain transverse material properties. Expanding previous studies on transverse material properties, the research explores the effect of through-culm-wall fiber gradation on the edge bearing, or 'diametric compression', strength of full-culm bamboo. The test method utilizes a full culm section cut into two or three concentric annular sections. Tests results for each 'ring' provide a measure of through thickness transverse properties. The objective of this work is the development of practical test methods for field assessment of bamboo material properties.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)63-70
Number of pages8
JournalKey Engineering Materials
Volume517
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2012
Event13th International Conference on Non-Conventional Materials and Technologies: Novel Construction Materials and Technologies for Sustainability, 13NOCMAT 2011 - Changsha, Hunan, China
Duration: 22 Sept 201124 Sept 2011

Keywords

  • Bamboo
  • Diametric compression
  • Splitting

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