Feasibility of using bamboo as a potential reinforcement in concrete beams

Abstract

This paper presents the evaluation of the feasibility to use bamboo as a potential reinforcement in concrete beams. To achieve this objective a series of tensile tests on two types of bamboo (i.e. yellow color and green color) were conducted to obtain their mechanical properties. Also, a series of pull out tests on two types of bamboo were conducted to obtain their bonding behavior in the concrete. To achieve the main objective, four-point bending tests on concrete beams reinforced with bamboo were performed to identify their behavior compared to conventional steel reinforced concrete beams. The test results of this study indicated that the ultimate load carrying capacity of tested bamboo reinforced concrete, on averaging all percent reinforcement, was about 29% of the equivalent reinforced steel concrete beams.