Development of engineered bamboo

Bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants and has mechanical properties similar to timber. Application of bamboo in construction is, however, limited to low cost housing and temporary structures due to a number of growth characteristics such as irregular shapes, hollow circular cross-sections, etc. To overcome these limitations in bamboo, an experimental study was undertaken to investigate the potential of developing an engineered bamboo product by cutting bamboo into smaller strips and gluing them together into rectangular cross-sections. Results of the tests showed that higher strength and stiffness and much lower variation in these properties, compared to natural bamboo, can be achieved when bamboo is fabricated into such an engineered product