Experimental Strength Evaluation of Bamboo Reinforced Concrete Beams

Abstract

This paper presents the outcome of an experimental investigation of the behavior and strength of reinforced concrete beams with bamboo reinforcement. A total of five beam specimens were tested in flexural under four point (pure bending) loading. A plain concrete beam (B1) served as a control beam. Two specimens (B2 and B3) were longitudinally reinforced with four bamboo culms and steel stirrups. The last two specimens (B4 and B5) had similar longitudinal reinforcement but bamboo pieces were used as shear stirrups. The bamboo culms used in two specimens (B2 & B4) were treated with bitumen along with sprinkling of fine particles of sand to achieve rough surface for better bonding with concrete. The introduction of bamboo reinforcement increased the stiffness, strength, and ductility of beams significantly as compared to the plain concrete beam. The ultimate load carrying capacity of bamboo reinforced concrete beams was found to be 2.49 to 3.29 times that of control beam. The observed ultimate load was 25% and 13% more for specimens with coated reinforcement in case of steel stirrups and bamboo stirrups respectively. The specimen with coated bamboo reinforcementand steel stirrups achieved the highest ultimate load among all specimens.