Study on the utilisation of laminated bamboo (Bambusa Arundinacea) slats as an alternative composite material for building small fishing boat framing structures

Abstract

Wooden fishing boats are vital for increasing the productivity of marine fisheries in Indonesia. Unfortunately the fishing boat industry is challenged by the scarcity of wood the primary material in fishing boat manufacturing. This scarcity of wood is chiefly caused by decreasing of forest in Indonesia due to excessive exploitation and illegal logging in the last few decades. The scarcity of wood lengthens the building time and also increases the price of fishing boats. This paper presents a study on the feasibility of laminated bamboo slats of the Ori bamboo species (Bambusa Arundinacea) as a substitute material for the production of fishing boats. Bamboo laminate demonstrates excellent mechanical properties, ideal for boat building. Based on our investigation involving several experiments, the average tensile strength measured for laminated bamboo slats is 185.50 MPa and the tensile modulus of elasticity (MOE) is 23.60 GPa. Further, bending tests gave the modulus of rupture (MOR) of 84.12 MPa and flexural MOE of 18.04 GPa. For the current study our eval-uation is focused on the construction of a fishing boat framing. The design of 20GT fishing boat by considering the rules from BKI, averagely gives the framing member dimension made of bamboo laminate of 40.72% less than that made of solid teak wood material. Moreover, the fishing boat made of bamboo laminate consumed in total of 22.05% less volume of material in comparison to that constructed with solid teak wood.