Abstract
Bamboo is a ubiquitous monocotyledonous flowering plant and is a member of the true grass family Poaceae. In many parts of the world, it is widely used as a structural material especially in scaffolding and buildings. In spite of its wide use, there is no accepted methodology for standardizing a species of bamboo for a particular structural purpose. The task of developing structure–property correlations is complicated by the fact that bamboo is a hierarchical material whose structure at the nanoscopic level is not very well explored. However, we show that as far as stiffness is concerned, it is possible to obtain reliable estimates of important structural properties like the axial modulus from the knowledge of certain key elements of the microstructure. Stiffness of bamboo depends most sensitively on the size and arrangement of the fibre sheaths surrounding the vascular bundles and the arrangement of crystalline cellulose microfibrils in their secondary cell walls. For the species of bamboo studied in this work, we have quantitatively determined the radial gradation that the arrangement of fibres renders to the structure. The arrangement of the fibres gives bamboo a radially graded property variation across its cross section.
Highlights
A member of the true grass family Poaceae, is a ubiquitous monocotyledonous flowering plant, of which there are over 75 genera and 1250 species [1]
The location of the fibre bundles does not seem to have a bearing on their stiffness as all bundles are constituted of fibres with almost identical distribution of inner and outer diameters. This result is remarkable given the fact that though a large number of factors are not known with 13 certainty, knowledge of the average microfibril angle in the secondary cell walls, an estimate of the modulus of single crystalline cellulose and the size and shape distribution of the fibres in the cross section allows us to determine the axial modulus of a bamboo fibre quite closely
We have studied the morphology and stiffness of a local variety of bamboo with a view to establish an implementable method of linking the former to the latter
Summary
A member of the true grass family Poaceae, is a ubiquitous monocotyledonous flowering plant, of which there are over 75 genera and 1250 species [1]. Robust structures (e.g. a large shed adhering to established design norms for steel and concrete structures) with bamboo as the major structural element In their design, Bhalla et al [2] have assumed that bamboo (in particular, the species Dendrocalamus giganteus) has a Young’s modulus of 14 GPa, and tensile and compressive yield strengths of 120 and 55 MPa, respectively. We show that in order to obtain a reliable estimate of the axial mechanical properties of a particular species of bamboo, knowledge of a small set of key parameters is sufficient These include the areal distribution of fibres, average orientation angle of the cellulose microfibrils in the secondary cell walls of fibres and size distribution of the fibres. Apparent sweeping simplifications like ignoring the amorphous nature of a part of the cellulose, assuming approximate values of the stiffness of the amorphous noncellulosic polysaccharides in the microfibrils, size distribution of the parenchyma cells, etc., do not seem to affect the stiffness estimate significantly
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
