Engineered bamboo

Summary

Engineered bamboo is a set of composite products produced from bamboo. It is designed to be a replacement for wood[1] or engineered wood, but is used only when high load bearing strength is not required[2] because building standards for this type of use have not been agreed by regulatory bodies.[3] Engineered bamboo comes in several different forms, including bamboo scrimber and laminated bamboo,[4] which has three times the structural capacity as normal timber[5] and is defined and regulated by the ASTM International Standards.[6]

Engineered bamboo has been used as paneling, vehicle beds, concrete formworks,[2] lightweight building construction[7] and even for shelters after the 2004 tsunami.[8] In comparison to the woods that have been traditionally used, a number of benefits and drawbacks have been identified. Lower cost, especially when replacing wood that would otherwise have been imported, is a key advantage.[9] Further benefits include greater hardness and shape retention, especially in high temperatures.[10]

However, bamboo is not as resilient as most woods and will decay more rapidly than other woods if not treated with preservatives.[11]

New building methods have had to be developed for engineered bamboo as its properties are sufficiently different, and make normal wood-working methods used with (non-engineered) bamboo unsuitable.[12]

In order to overcome the typical loss of strength bamboo incurs when bending takes place post-harvest, an alternative method to overcome this has been developed.

Pre-harvest bending of the bamboo stems in zig-zags, allows the bamboo to later form a Warren truss.[13]

Alexander Vittouris has proposed a much simpler 2D S-bend shape, which — after harvesting, and in sufficient quantities — could be assembled into a variety of 3D shapes. The arboriculture technique used to make both shapes is similar to tree shaping, and result in parts similar to woodworking knees.[14][15][16][17]

References edit

  1. ^ Yan Xiao; Masafumi Inoue; Shyam K. Paudel (2008). Modern bamboo structures: proceedings of First International Conference on Modern Bamboo Structures. CRC Press. ISBN 978-0415475976.
  2. ^ a b Wan Tarmeze Wan Ariffin (March 2005). "Numerical Analysis of Bamboo and Laminated Bamboo Strip Lumber (PhD paper)". University of Birmingham. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
  3. ^ "Sustainable building: Building Codes". International Network for Bamboo and Rattan. Archived from the original on 2012-01-30. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
  4. ^ B. Sharma; A. Gatoo; M. Bock; H. Mulligan; M. Ramage (October 2014). "Engineered bamboo: state of the art". Proceedings of the ICE - Construction Materials. 168 (2): 57–67. doi:10.1680/coma.14.00020.
  5. ^ Wu Xing (March 31, 2010). "My Boo (Lamboo)". Architerials. Archived from the original on June 9, 2013. Retrieved May 28, 2013.
  6. ^ "Lamboo Inc. Recognized Within ASTM International Standards". Woodworking Network. August 16, 2012. Retrieved July 23, 2013.
  7. ^ Jorge A. Gutiérrez (2000). Structural Adequacy of Traditional Bamboo Housing in Latin America. National Laboratory for Materials and Structural Models, Civil Engineering Department, University of Costa Rica. ISBN 8186247440.
  8. ^ Subir Bhaumik (18 December 2005). "Andaman tsunami victims still homeless". BBC. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
  9. ^ Merlyn Carmelita N. Rivera. Silvicultural management of bamboo in the Philippines and Australia for shoots and timber. Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research. p. 11.
  10. ^ Bansal, Arun K.; Zoolagud, S.S. (2002). "Bamboo composites: Material of the future". Journal of Bamboo and Rattan. 1 (2): 119–130. doi:10.1163/156915902760181595.
  11. ^ W Liese (2004). "Preservation of bamboo structures". Ghana Journal of Forestry. 15: 156.
  12. ^ Bhavna Sharma; Kent A. Harries; Khosrow Ghavami. "\"Work in Progress – Pushover Test of Bamboo Portal Frame Structure\"". University of Pittsburgh.
  13. ^ Cassandra Adams. "Bamboo Architecture and Construction with Oscar Hidalgo".
  14. ^ Alexander Vittouris and Mark Richardson. "Designing for Velomobile Diversity: Alternative opportunities for sustainable personal mobility" Archived 2012-09-16 at the Wayback Machine. "Section 4.4: Structural pre-harvest deformation of bamboo". 2012.
  15. ^ Kimberley Mok. "Ajiro Bamboo Velobike: A "Grown Vehicle" That's Farmed, Not Factory-Made". 2011.
  16. ^ Brit Liggett. "The Ajiro Bamboo Bike is Grown From the Ground Up". 2011.
  17. ^ Stephen Cauchi. "Bamboozled? Give it a grow" 2011.