Flexural Properties of Multiple Bamboo Beams with Connection Joints

Abstract

Bamboo is a natural material widely used in buildings and bridges that has good mechanical properties. However, the longitudinal connection of bamboo culms is a major problem for the bamboo industry. In this study, sleeve-nailed bamboo specimens were produced, which contained three bamboo pieces. Two bamboo pieces with similar diameters were longitudinally joined by inserting a short bamboo culm with a smaller diameter, fixed with nails. The flexural performance of single beams and two-culm beams were studied. The load-displacement curves and fracture behavior of the specimens were investigated. The results show that the flexural bearing capacity of the single connected bamboo specimen was relatively smaller than that of an unconnected one, while the flexural bearing capacity of the two-culm beam was improved significantly. It can be seen that the lateral connection of bamboo specimens can improve the bearing capacity of the combined bamboo culms. This study provides a basis for promoting the application of sleeve-type nailed connections for bamboo.

Advances in Connection Techniques for Raw Bamboo Structures – A Systematic Review

“…The joint or connection of raw bamboo structures has perennially posed a significant challenge in the advancement of modern bamboo architecture [23,68,71]. Raw bambooʹs hollow, thin-walled composition, dimensional variations, and anisotropic material properties exacerbate the complexity of designing bamboo connections [20,68,71].…”

“…The joint or connection of raw bamboo structures has perennially posed a significant challenge in the advancement of modern bamboo architecture [23,68,71]. Raw bambooʹs hollow, thin-walled composition, dimensional variations, and anisotropic material properties exacerbate the complexity of designing bamboo connections [20,68,71]. While studies have been conducted on raw bamboo connections, and various connection types have been proposed by researchers, a consensus on the preferred bamboo connection remains elusive.…”

“…One addition made by the authors is the introduction of hybrid connections. The recently proposed raw bamboo connections combine elements from traditional and modern connections [51], or integrate multiple modern connections [17,20,23,44,[74][75][76], or blend modern connections with supplementary connection components [26,[40][41][42]44,49,[62][63][64][65]68]. Hence, they are termed hybrid connections.…”

“…Zhou et al [68] introduced a sleeve-nailed bamboo connection method, involving three bamboo culms. This technique joins two bamboo culms of similar diameter longitudinally by inserting a shorter bamboo culm with a smaller diameter, which is then secured with nails.…”

“…Figure 18. Combination of modern connections with supplementary connection components: (a) Parallel bolted mortar infill connection [49]; (b) Bamboo culms connected by wooden block (sleeve) and steel hose-clamp [66]; (c) Connected by wooden clamp, wooden gusset plate and steel bolts [16];(d) Connected by bamboo sleeve and nails[68]; (e) Sleeve-cement connection[67]; (f) Sleeve-bolt connection[67]; (g) Groove-plate connection[67].…”