Bamboo Reinforced Concrete Slabs for Fence Walls

Suppiah Subramaniam,Venugopal M

doi:10.5539/jsd.v8n9p1

Abstract

The construction industry consumes large quantities of steel and emits carbon which is a dampener for sustainable growth all over the world. As an alternative to steel, bamboo and rattan cane have been tried as reinforcement in different countries on a very small scale only. This work aims at exploring the methods of adopting bamboo reinforced concrete slabs for erecting fence walls in rural parts of south-India. Presently, fence walls are erected using steel reinforced concrete (SRC) slabs which are cast as a cottage industry, without adhering to any specification. Twenty five (25) bamboo reinforced concrete (BRC) slabs of size 1000 mm by 300 mm by 50 mm (length: width: thickness) were cast in the laboratory using M20 mix ratio. The slabs were tested using (a) ultrasonic instrument and (b) universal testing machine to assess the quality of concrete and deflection values respectively. As a comparative study these tests were repeated on SRC slabs, procured from a vendor. The results reveal that the quality of concrete in BRC slabs was better than that of the SRC slabs. The BRC slabs failed at approximately 50% of the magnitude of load taken by SRC slabs at failure. The deflection and the crack width also followed the same trend. The cost analysis performed indicates that BRC slabs are cheaper by 25 to 30%. Therefore, it is recommended to adopt BRC slabs for erecting fence walls by which more bamboo will be grown, leading to a sustainable growth of the environment.

Highlights

Bamboo is known as poor man’s building material and abundantly found in Southeast Asia and in other countries
The results reveal that the quality of concrete in bamboo reinforced concrete (BRC) slabs was better than that of the steel reinforced concrete (SRC) slabs
The BRC slabs failed at approximately 50% of the magnitude of load taken by SRC slabs at failure

Summary

Introduction

Bamboo is known as poor man’s building material and abundantly found in Southeast Asia and in other countries. Southeast Asia is one of the most populated regions in the world and low-cost houses are increasingly in demand. Uses of bamboo in the construction industry are scaffolding, trusses, low cost dwellings in earthquake prone hilly regions and many other engineering applications since pre-history days. In many parts of the world, bamboo has been tried as an environmentally sustainable building material. The significant feature of bamboo is its immense vitality and one particular species has been known to grow over 1.25 m in 24 hours. Bamboo grows well in light-sandy soil with good draining facilities for excess water. The advantages of bamboo are: a) Possesses high tensile strength when compared to steel, which makes it as a suitable reinforcement material

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Conclusion