Natural materials are a focus for development of low carbon products for a variety of applications. To utilise these materials, processing is required to meet acceptable industry standards. Laminated bamboo is a commercial product that is currently being explored for structural applications, however there is a gap in knowledge about the effects of commercial processing on the chemical composition. The present study utilised interdisciplinary methods of analysis to investigate the effects of processing on the composition of bamboo. Two common commercial processing methods were investigated: bleaching (chemical treatment) and caramelisation (hygrothermal treatment). The study indicated that the bleaching process results in a more pronounced degradation of the lignin in comparison to the caramelised bamboo. This augments previous research, which has shown that the processing method (strip size) and treatment may affect the mechanical properties of the material in the form of overall strength, failure modes and crack propagation. The study provides additional understanding of the effects of processing on the properties of bamboo.

This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2015.11.04

Low carbon construction materials are needed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the built environment. Laminated bamboo is an example of such a material. However, to be used in structural applications, fundamental mechanical properties are needed to establish the design values used in architecture and engineering practice. Recent studies on laminated bamboo have focused on the use of timber standards for small clear specimens, with little work published on structural-scale testing. The work presented in this paper is the first study to utilise structural-scale test methods for timber in a multi-laboratory test programme to investigate all mechanical properties of an outdoor laminated bamboo product. The study provides a comparison of the full-scale structural performance with conventional timber and a pathway for use in engineering design and practice. The work shows that laminated bamboo is comparable to conventional timber and timber-based products in structural properties and forms a foundation for the use of laminated bamboo in design and construction.

Raw data in excel sheets presenting bending siffness and fibre volume fraction of processed engineered bamboo beams.This work was conducted as part of a MEng thesis project in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge. The work was also supported by a Leverhulme Trust Programme Grant and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC Grant EP/K023403/1)