Radial and longitudinal variation of the mechanical properties of bamboo

Although used for millennia, only recently has there been an increased interest in bamboo as a construction material for its economic, social and environmental benefits. For bamboo to be widely implemented in construction, however, there is a need to better understand the variation in the plant's mechanical properties. The microstructure of bamboo and the mechanical properties of the solid cell wall material of bamboo were characterized for use in models for the variation of the overall mechanical properties of bamboo as a function of radial and longitudinal position. The density of bamboo and the volume fraction of vascular bundles in the bamboo increases with radial position (away from the center of the culm) and decreases with height. Tensile tests follow the trends predicted by the models. Young's modulus and strength increase with radial position (away from the center of the culm). Values for Young's modulus were in the range of 5 to 40 GPa and values for strength varied from 100 to 400 MPa.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2011

Author dc:creator

• García, Lina M. (Lina Mariá García De la Ossa)

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Lorna J. Gibson.

• Materials Science and Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/101858

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/101858