Investigating Compressive and Cleavage Strengths of an Indian Bamboo Species
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 27, Issue 9
Abstract
Depleting timber resources has generated interest in bamboo, a traditional sustainable building material of the tropics. However, dearth of strength data has been a major hindrance in its engineered application. The present paper reports experimentally verified compressive and cleavage strengths of an Indian bamboo species that is considered suitable for structural applications. The investigated compressive strength is well comparable with that of equivalent timber. The paper reports lesser strength of split bamboo specimens than round ones, which contradicts the provisions of some codes. The paper also observes that compressive strength of bamboo generally increases along its culm length, gradually from bottom to top. The paper further identifies a factor, which when multiplied by the density of a given specimen, yields corresponding permissible compressive strength. Low values of coefficients of variation and skewness of the experimental data indicate its reliability. This paper may be considered as a step towards engineered application of bamboo.
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Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 27 • Issue 9 • September 2015
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 12, 2014
Accepted: Aug 21, 2014
Published online: Sep 29, 2014
Discussion open until: Feb 28, 2015
Published in print: Sep 1, 2015
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