Laminated bamboo materials for plated building structures

Current bamboo composite materials have typical unidirectional properties. Along the bamboo fiber the strength is high while transverse to the fiber the strength is ultra-low. Such bamboo composite can be applied to construct beams and columns. To construct plated building structures, the anisotropy will greatly weaken the load carrying capacity. A novel cross-laminated bamboo (CLB) composite material was firstly designed, manufactured and tested in this research. Seven kinds of CLB specimens with fiber orientation changing from 0° to 90° at an interval of 15° were prepared for tension, compression and bending experiments to investigate the anisotropic mechanical behaviors of the CLB. Experimental results show that the laminated structure greatly attenuates the anisotropy of the bamboo composite. The anisotropic ratios of the tensile strength, the compressive strength and the flexural strength are 3.33, 1.38 and 2.10 respectively. In addition, CLB also has good strength and stiffness, and might be an excellent bamboo for plated building structures. • A novel cross-laminated bamboo with lamination of [0°/90°] 4 was designed and manufactured. • Cross-laminate structure has comparable bearing capacity in parallel and transverse directions. • The anisotropic ratio is reduced to 3.33, 1.38 and 2.10 in tension, compression and flexure.