Tests and analysis on flexural strength of lightweight bamboo-steel composite floor slab

Abstract

Many research works have been conducted to study the mechanical properties of bamboo-based panel and the prospect in building structures. The study presented aims to evaluate the flexural behaviors of a new type of lightweight composite slabs consisted of cold-formed thin-walled steel C-section and bamboo-based panel sheathing. According to different interface composite and enhanced ways, three types of composite slabs were designed and tested: (1) composite with structural adhesive directly; (2) fasteners (self-tapping screws) used to strengthen; (3) thick bamboo laths were glued on two sides of the cold-formed thin-walled steel C-section to improve the whole stability. Six large-scale slab specimens were tested considering different test parameters. The results show that the composite slabs employed with enhanced ways have better overall performance, deformation capacity and flexural performance; the mechanical properties of the third type composite slabs are better to meet the requirement to be as practical floor slabs. Based on the stress-strain curve and failure modes, we propose simplified calculation method and mechanical model for deformation and bearing capacity, the predicated values match well with the experimental ones.