Flattening of Bamboo Culm while Softening in Palm Oil and Subsequent Mechanical Characterization

This paper considers the softening and flattening treatment of Schizostachyum Lumampao Bamboo as part of a process in its preparation for utilization. Bamboo half-culm samples with thicknesses of either 5.00 mm or 6.00 mm was soaked in palm oil at either of two temperatures (100°C or 160°C) with an application of 50 N load to simulate the flattening process for a period of either 2700 sec. (45 mins.) or 3600 sec. (60 mins.). By measuring the height of the bamboo half-culm before and after the thermal treatment, a relationship was derived between the total heat transferred into the bamboo culms and the flattening behavior. Furthermore, after the flattening, the bending strength of the culms exhibited an exponentially decaying trend and the fracture strength a bi-modal behavior which is confirmed by other studies. This study reports a derived parameter designated as the thermodynamic bending stiffness of about 4 MPa for the flattening process.