Flexural behaviour of built-up I-shaped bamboo scrimber beams: experimental tests and design method

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper presents the flexural behaviour of built-up I-shaped bamboo scrimber beams under four-point bending. Ten bamboo scrimber beams were tested, employing different types of connections between the web and flanges. The load-deflection relationship, failure mode and load-slip relationship of beams were obtained through experimental tests. Besides, the measured strains of bamboo scrimber in various regions were used to analyse the flexural mechanisms of I-shaped beams. Test results showed that the beam with a glued connection exhibited debonding at the web-flange interface, hindering the development of flexural capacity of the beam. By using self-tapping screws or bolted steel angles to strengthen the connection, the slip between the web and flanges was considerably reduced, resulting in the increased flexural capacity of beams. The rupture of the bottom flange near the concentrated point load led to the final failure of strengthened beams. The design method for mechanical fastened glulam beams in Eurocode 5 was adopted to assess the flexural capacity of bamboo scrimber beams. Comparisons between experimental results and calculated results per Eurocode 5 indicate that the method is capable of predicting the flexural resistances of I-shaped bamboo scrimber beams with reasonably good accuracy.