Structural behaviors of bolted connections using laminated bamboo and steel plates

Abstract

The objective of this study is to investigate the mechanical properties of laminated bamboo and the behavior of bolted connections using laminated bamboo and steel plates. Seeking more sustainable materials to reducing the carbon impact onto our environment has put bamboo on the map as an alternative building material, especially in the regions such as China, Southern Asia, and South America, where the bamboo is abundant. The application of a composite bolted connection using laminated bamboo and steel plates in a laminated bamboo silo structure necessitates a detailed investigation of its behavior. An experimental program was designed and employed to perform a set of specimen tests on both single-bolted and multiple-bolted connections using laminated bamboo and steel plates. The impacts of the edge distance, bolt size, and thickness of laminated bamboo strips were observed for single-bolted connections. Meanwhile, the test results for multiple-bolted connections revealed that the spacing influenced the capacity in a similar manner as the edge distance on single-bolted connections and the stagger configuration of the bolts improved the capacity of the multiple-bolted connection. The observed failure modes of the connections specimens were the longitudinal splitting, shear out, and combined longitudinal splitting and bamboo crushing. In addition, the material properties of the laminated bamboo used in this study were carefully measured and recorded to provide a first-hand database on the parameters of the constitutive relations and Hill's failure criterion of such material. The measured material parameters were employed in the detailed finite element models of these connections and their numerical solutions were compared with the test results.