Building of small bamboo shelter : basic material properties

As globalization intensify, the standard for living between the rich and the poor increases with majority of the underprivileged living in poverty. The lack of proper housing and poor living conditions coupled with unexpected occurrences of natural disaster have lead to a raising demand in sustainable low cost housing. Therefore in collaboration with Lien Institute for Environment (LIFE), this project aims to address these problems by exploring the feasibility on the utilization of bamboo in the construction of a small bamboo shelter in developing countries. The use of bamboo as a building material has numerous advantages. However, it has been largely constrained by the availability of design standards and data. Hence in this project a series of basic material properties tests on the species of bamboo employed for the proposed erection of a small bamboo shelter is being conducted in a bid to obtain a holistic understanding on the bamboo species. The tensile, bending and buckling as well as the compression and bearing test will be conducted, however this report will only emphasize on the tensile and bending tests. The basic parameter that will affect the capacity and strength of bamboo will be highlighted in each test, together with the observations made during the performance of the tests. This will allow a clearer understanding on the basic mechanical behavior of bamboo. The report will end off with a conclusion from the tests together with recommendations which will set a good platform for the further studies. A copy of this report will therefore be given to Lien Institute for the Environment (LIFE) for their support in this project and as a guideline for future research on bamboo as a building material.Bachelor of Engineering (Civil