HOLY SPIRIT UNIVERSITY OF

KASLIK

Faculty of Engineering
Civil Engineering Department
GCV 310 – Reinforced Concrete І

Research

MATERIAL BEHAVIOR - BAMBOO

Group A

Presented by: ABOU HARB Chantal

FAYAD Hanady
KHALIL Maria
RICHA Manuella

Instructor: Dr. OTAYEK Elie

GROUP A REINFORCED CONCRETE І

Table of Contents

I. INTRODUCTION: ------------------------------------
Definition ------------------------------------------------2
Facts ------------------------------------------------------3
Types -----------------------------------------------------3
Shaping ---------------------------------------------------3
Preparation Process --------------------------------4

II. ADVANTAGES --------------------------------------------5

III. DISADVANTAGES ---------------------------------------5

IV. TREATMENT ----------------------------------------------6

V. BAMBOO IN CONSTRUCTION: ----------------------

Structural elements ------------------------------------7

VI. BAMBOO IN REINFORCEMENT: --------------------

Reinforced members ----------------------------------13
Design of Bamboo ------------------------------------14

VII. PROPERTIES ---------------------------------------------16

VIII. CONCLUSION -------------------------------------------18

IX. REFERENCES --------------------------------------------18

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INTRODUCTION

Definition:

Bamboo is a giant woody grass that grows in tropical and temperate

regions having hollow stems, thick rhizomes, and shoots that are used for
food. Its jointed stem is particularly used for building, furniture, and utensils.

As a construction material, Bamboo is associated with cultures of South

Asia, South Pacific, some eras in Central and South America. But indeed,
bamboo can just grow anywhere depending on its species. Some sprout in
sub-tropical areas, others in cold places (Ohio) and even some might grow
indoors where they are specialized of being harder types.

It’s hypothesized that in the ancient times, man in the Southeast Asia,
as in China and India, relied on bamboo as a principle material for building
houses and bridges that are still stood until present due to the largely
continuous maintenance.

Figure 1

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Facts:
 Size of Bamboo differs among species. The largest type has
reached up to 1300 ft.
 Fastest growing plant in the world. Within 24 hours, it can grow
up to 3 feet in height, reaching its maturity within 3 to 5
years.
 Wide and strong root system capable of holding and increasing
soil stability, preventing erosion.
 Surviving more than 120 years
 Releasing about 30% more oxygen into the atmosphere and
absorbing more carbon dioxide than other plants.
 Found in 2 proportions: tall as woody plants and short as
herbaceous ones.

Types:
Bamboo has around 15,000 species around the world. However, 3 main
types are categorized as the best for construction: Guadua, Dendrocalamus, and
Phyllostachys. In particular, Guadua angustifolia, found in South America, is
mainly composed of silicic acid that gives it the durability and hardness.
Besides, its tissue composition (40% fiber, 51% parenchyma and 9% conductive
tissue) explains its flexibility and high strength.

Shapes and Shaping:

Bamboo is found naturally in the circular shape; however, it can be easily

modified through placing it inside the desired volume form or through heat and

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pressure. When in construction, bamboo can have various structural shapes:

squared cross section, arch shaped, and curved and flat shapes.

Figure 2
Figure 3
Preparation Process:

1- Harvesting: Bamboo shouldn’t be harvested in spring neither in early

summer, due to their fiber’s high-water content.
2- Sizing: Split culms are preferable than the whole culms when in
construction. The large culms of diameter greater than ¾ wide inch
should be split.
3- Seasoning: Before usage, bamboo should be cut and dried for 3 -4
weeks.
4- Bending: After heating and getting C shaped bamboo, it can be used as
stirrups or hooks on reinforcement for anchorage.
5- Waterproof Coatings: When seasoned, bamboo must receive waterproof
coating to prevent its swelling in concrete. The types of coatings depend
on the used materials

.
Figure 4
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ADVANTAGES

1- Easy to cut: there’s no need for sophisticated tools and equipments

while handling, repairing, positionning and maintainning it.
2- Non-polluting: any part of the bamboo that is not used during
construction can be recyceled to fertilizers or processed as bamboo
charcoal.
3- Lightweight: due to its circular form and hollow section, bamboo is a
light building material compared to steel which makes it easy to
handle and transport.
4- Superior earth-quake resistance: the nodes allow the bending without
causing rupture due to presence of transverse wall inside it.
5- Combination: Bamboo can be used with other construction materials
as reinforcement.
6- Minimizing the air conditioner usage: Bamboo doesn’t absorb heat
and the air can be free to circulate through its gaps.
7- Extremely strong natural fiber.
8- Economical and ecological material
9- High tensile strength
10- High shock absorbing capacity.

DISADVANTAGES

1- High porosity and low resistance to water: being a natural material

made of organic elements it can easily absorb water which causes
its degradation through time.

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2- Low resistance to flame: it can be easily burned, especially during

summer.
3- Not resistant to certain types of insects: it can be easily attacked by
insects especially when used in permanent contact with the
soil.
4- Easily scratched: due to its soft surface any hard material can
scratch it easily.
5- Not durable: it cannot be used in permanent structures, and it has
short lifetime compared to steel.
6- Low modulus of elasticity: it makes the Bamboo crack and deflect
more than steel in reinforcement.
7- Shrinking problems: due to its porosity Bamboo absorbs water
from concrete, which leads to shrinkage.
8- Cannot be used in cold climate: its high absorbance makes it
difficult to use in cold climate because of several freezing and
thawing cycles that leads to the loss of its characteristics.

TREATMENT

Although Bamboo has many disadvantages, it still can be treated by the

following procedures:
1- To prevent insects attack, once cut Bamboo should undergo special
immunization and drying processes.
2- To avoid being flammable, Bamboo can be treated with a fireresistant
substance.
3- Swelling and shrinking of Bamboo can be controlled by using a
waterproof material like “Bitumen”.

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Figure 5

STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS

Foundations:

Using Bamboo as a foundation material is not likely used as when in contact

with moist surfaces it can decay fast. However, there are various types of
foundations constructed with Bamboo:

1- Bamboo which is in direct contact with ground surface.

2- Bamboo fixed to rock or performed concrete footing.
3- Composite bamboo or concrete columns
4- Bamboo piles.

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Figure 6

Figure 7 Figure 8

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Walls:

Bamboo is most commonly used in construction as walls and partitions. Posts

and beams are the main elements normally constructed with Bamboo. They are
positioned in a way in order to withstand the natural forces. In order to add
strength and stability to the walls, an infill substance is used between framing
elements. Non-bearing concrete walls should have a thickness of not less than 5
inches or 1/30 the distance between the supports. Walls should be reinforced
with at least 3/4-inch-diameter culms on 6-inch centers in both vertical and
horizontal directions. This reinforcement should be provided as a one-layer in
the middle of the wall. Two bamboo culms 1/2 inch or more in diameter should
be placed above and at the sides of openings, and two 3/4-inch-diameter culms,
4 feet long should be placed diagonally across the corners of openings.

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Figure 9

Roofing:

Bamboo is considered as one of the best roofing materials that provides

strength to the structure. It works as a shield againts nature forces. Its light-
weight makes it easy to install.

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Figure 10

Joints:

Bamboo Has Nodes, Use Them!

To avoid Bamboo crushing, it is preferred to use nodes distant from the

ends a minimum distance. In case natural nodes are not present, use
wooden cylinders instead.

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Figure 11

Figure 12 Figure 13

Figure 14 12
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Reinforced members:

Upon the usage of Bamboo as reinforcement, the cover and concrete

mixing won’t be affected. However, high-early strength cement is preferred
because it decreases the percentage of cracks caused by the swelling of
Bamboo.

Beams & Girders:

Longitudinal reinforcement using Bamboo is about 3 to 4% of the
beam’s cross section.
Beams can be designed with reinforcing steel and then converted into
Bamboo reinforced ones.
Stirrups:
The Bamboo stirrups area should be 4 times the steel stirrups.
Columns:
Bamboo reinforcement in columns serves to resist a compression load equal
to that taken by the concrete it displaces; it also will resist shear and
tensile stresses.
Of the full cross section of concrete, only 80 percent is considered effective
in rectangular tied, columns. Allowable concrete stress should not exceed
0.225 f'c.
For rectangular columns, vertical reinforcement should be approximately
4% of the column’s cross section.
The spacing between lateral ties should never exceed 16 times the least
dimension of the vertical reinforcement nor farther apart than the least
dimension of the column.
The concrete cross-sectional area of bamboo reinforced rectangular columns
conservatively should be 2.25 times the concrete area of steel reinforced
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rectangular columns, indicating a 50-percent increase in face

dimensions.

Figure 15 Figure 16

Figure 17

Design of Bamboo

 Cover of the bamboo should not be taken less than 1-1/2 inches from
face of the concrete.

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 Top and bottom of the stems should be placed in every row and the
nodes must be staggered.
 The clear spacing between bamboo rods should not be less than the
maximum size aggregate plus 1/4 inch.
 Reinforcement should be placed at equal spacing.
 If more than one layer is required, the layers should be tied together.
Ties are better made with wire in important members. For secondary
elements, ties can be made with vegetation materials. Bamboo must be
securely tied down before placing the concrete. It should be fixed at
regular intervals of 3 to 4 feet to prevent it from moving and floating
up in the concrete during placement.
 In flexural members, 1/2 to 2/3 of the bottom longitudinal
reinforcement should be bent up near supports. Additional diagonal
tension reinforcement in the form of stirrups must be used near
supports. The vertical stirrups can be made from wire, packing case
straps or from bamboo bent into U-shape, and tied securely to both
reinforcements.
 Stirrups spacing should not exceed 6 inches.
 Thickness remains the same when reinforced with bamboo instead of
steel. However, the volume of the bamboo reinforcement should be
about 4 times the volume of steel.
 Dowels in the footings for column and wall reinforcement should be
imbedded approximately 10 times the diameter of whole culms or 25
times the thickness of 3/4 inch wide splints in the concrete to such a
depth that the bond between bamboo and concrete will resist the
allowable tensile. If the footing is not deep, the dowels will have to be
bent into an L-shape. The dowels should extend above the footings

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and be cut so that not more than 30% of the splices (overlapped at
least 25 inches) will occur at the same height.

PROPERTIES

Bamboo reinforced concrete design is similar to steel reinforcing design.

Bamboo reinforcement can be assumed to have the following mechanical
properties:

Table 1

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Figure 18

Table 2 Table 3

Due to the low modulus of elasticity of bamboo, flexural members always

develop some cracking under normal service loads. If cracking cannot be
resisted, steel reinforced designs or unreinforced sections are required.

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CONCLUSION

Based on the research conducted on the uncommon construction material

“Bamboo”, we have found that like any other material it has advantages and
disadvantages that could also be treated in several ways.

Moreover, the properties and strength of Bamboo permit us to understand that

not only steel is the material that can provide the needed strength to withstand
impact loads; but also the natural material bamboo can be used instead safely.
Concerning Lebanon, the bamboo construction is not that familiar where it’s
more likely to be used for furniture and flooring rather than as a construction
material.

Indeed this material that is shipped from China is available at the CMC
company in jbeil upon request. It’s found in 3 types: plastic, leaf and steel.
However, the leaf type is not recommendedto be used as the other 2 types. The
diameter of such a bamboo is about 20cm and its length is of 5m. the price of a
single bamboo varies between 25,000 and 35,000 L.L depending on its size
and weight .

REFERENCES

http://softschools.com/facts/plants/bamboo_facts/563/

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bamboo

https://www.bamboogrove.com/where-bamboo-grows.html

https://www.gardenguides.com/96378-bamboo-type-plants-found-ohio.html

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https://www.guaduabamboo.com/construction/the-reality-about-building-with-
bamboo

http://www.distrohome.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-bamboo-house-
designs

https://www.guaduabamboo.com/working-with-bamboo/joining-bamboo

http://www.romanconcrete.com/docs/bamboo1966/BambooReinforcedConcrete
Feb1966.htm#_Toc501122829

http://engineerosaz.blogspot.com/2017/07/using-bamboo-in-place-of-iron-rods-
in.html

http://www.dailycivil.com/bamboo-as-reinforcement-is-bamboo-stronger-than-
steel-2/

Paper published by: U. S. NAVAL CIVIL ENGINEERING LABAORATORY

Port Hueneme, California By Francis E. Brink and Paul J. Rush.

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