The suitability of bamboo’s basic characteristics is very important for more specific purposes, such as composite raw materials. Anatomical, physical, mechanical, and chemical characteristics are some of bamboo’s fundamental characteristics. This study analyses the basic properties, such as physical, mechanical, and chemical properties of bamboo from the Forest Area with Special Purpose (FASP) Pondok Buluh Sumatera Island, Indonesia (I); analyses the relationship between the properties of each type of bamboo (II); and chooses the type of bamboo with the best properties that have the potential to be applied to composite materials, such as laminated bamboo (III). This study used materials consisting of six species of bamboo from the FASP Pondok Buluh. The manufacture of physical and mechanical test samples refers to the ISO 22157 standard, 2004, while the chemical properties test refers to the TAPPI 1999 standard. The chemical, physical, and mechanical properties of bamboo vary widely among species. The lowest holocellulose and α-cellulose content were found in the Kuning Bamboo (B. vulgaris var. vittata). The content of holocellulose and α-cellulose causes the lowest density in Kuning Bamboo (B. vulgaris var. vittata). The Dasar Bamboo (Bambusa vulgaris) has the highest levels of lignin. The substances have an impact on moisture content, T/R ratio, and shear strength. The Dasar Bamboo (Bambusa vulgaris) has the lowest moisture content, the highest T/R ratio, and the highest shear strength. However, Betung Bamboo (Dendrocalamus asper) has the highest density in this study. The compressive strength of the Betung Bamboo (Dendrocalamus asper) has the highest value. Therefore, Betung bamboo and Dasar Bamboo in this study were potentially utilized for composite materials, such as laminated bamboo.

Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus) are the world’s largest living land mammals. The elephant’s digestive system can only absorb 40% of the nutrients in digested feed, and the remainder is excreted as dung. Elephant dung waste can be used as a particleboard material due to its high fiber content. The objectives of this study are: (i) to prepare elephant dung waste as raw material for particleboard, (ii) to improve elephant dung particleboard’s physical and mechanical properties using wood shavings, and (iii) to study the influence of several parameters on the physical and mechanical properties of particleboard. The particleboard dimensions and density were set at 20 cm × 20 cm × 1 cm and 0.8 g/cm³, respectively. The mixture ratio of elephant dung and wood shavings was 100/0, 90/10, 80/20, 70/30, 60/40, and 50/50 (% w/w). This mixture ratio of particles was sprayed with 7% isocyanate adhesive. The pressing at a pressure of 30 kg/cm² for 5 min and 160 °C was used in this study. The physical and mechanical properties of particleboard were tested according to JIS A 5908 (2003) standard. The result shows that the addition of wood shaving improved the elephant dung particleboard’s physical and mechanical properties. Except for moisture content and water absorption, the addition of wood shavings has a significant effect on elephant dung particleboard’s physical and mechanical properties. The best ratio of elephant dung and wood-shaving for this research is 50/50 and has fulfilled the JIS A 5908-2003 standard, except for thickness swelling.

Sugar palm bunch/SPB (Arenga longipes Mogea) waste is a lignocellulosic material derived from the harvest of sugar palm fruit (kolang-kaling). Therefore, this study aims to examine the anatomical, physical, chemical, and mechanical characteristics of SPB. The anatomical characterization results showed that SPB had two forms of fibrovascular bundles (FVBs), namely large and small. Based on morphology, SPB fibers had a length, diameter, average lumen diameter, and cell wall thickness of approximately 1346.42 ± 415.71 μm, 20.05 ± 3.81 μm, 11.82 ± 2.95 μm, and 4.12 ± 1.08 μm, respectively. FVB tissue of the sample had a fairly high density of 4–6 FVB per 4 mm² with a non-vascular area/total area ratio of 57.25%. The results showed that the sample contained 45.31 ± 3.20% cellulose, 23.21 ± 3.73% hemicellulose, 27.23 ± 4.23% lignin, and 1.39 ± 0.32% ash content. In addition, the extractive content that dissolved in hot water, cold water, ethanol-benzene, and 1% NaOH was 4.79 ± 0.84%, 7.12 ± 0.68%, 7.27 ± 2.38%, and 29.81 ± 3.78%, respectively. The GC–MS analysis results showed that A. longipes bunch contained several compounds, including carboxylic acid (tetradecanoic, octadecanoic), methoxy group (3-hydoxyphthalide), and palmitic acid. Meanwhile, the FTIR analysis showed the presence of OH groups with high intensity, which were identified as aromatic groups, as well as phenol groups recognized as lignin. Based on these results, characteristics of SPB were more suitable as raw materials for biomass energy, absorbent activated carbon, composite board, and surfactant.

Bearing strength largely affects the performance of wood connections. This study, determines the bearing strengths of six Indonesian tropical hardwoods with different specific gravities (ranging from 0.43 to 0.84) by half-hole testing. The results for three bolt diameters were compared to the bearing strengths in the Indonesian National Standard (SNI) and the National Design Specification (NDS) for Wood Construction. Next, the bolt-bearing strengths were related to the specific gravities and mechanical properties of the woods. With increasing specific gravity, the bearing strength increased from 26 to 70 MPa. The experimentally obtained bearing strengths of light and heavy red meranti, mersawa, kapur and bangkirai woods were 3–15% and 11–23% lower than the SNI and NDS values, respectively. In contrast, the experimental result for merbau was 23 and 11% higher than the SNI and NDS values, respectively. The bearing strength most closely approached the compression strength parallel to the grain.

The use of natural fibers or particles as alternative raw materials for particleboard production is essential due to the shrinking forest area. Currently, dung waste from the Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus) is being used as a raw material for particleboard due to its high fiber content. Although the product still has inferior mechanical and physical characteristics, it can be improved by layering bamboo. Therefore, this study aimed to enhance the mechanical and physical qualities of elephant dung particleboard by adding layers of bamboo. The particleboard constructed had three layers; namely, the face and back in the form of a bamboo layers, as well as the core, which was in the form of elephant dung. The elephant dung was evenly mixed with isocyanate adhesive using a spray gun, and the bamboo layers were coated with adhesive on one side of the surface. The sample was subjected to a hot press at a temperature of 150 °C and 30 kg/cm² pressure for 10 min. Generally, JIS A 5908-2003 is the specification used to test the physical and mechanical properties of particleboard. During the experiment, the characteristics examined include density, moisture content, water absorption, thickness swelling, modulus of elasticity, modulus of rupture, and internal bonding, which were enhanced by using layers of bamboo. The results showed that the physical properties of the particleboard with bamboo layers were a density of 0.62–0.69 g/cm³, a moisture content of 7.87–10.35%, water absorption of 38.27–68.58%, and a thickness swelling of 10.87–30.00%, which met the minimum standards of JIS A 5908-2003. The mechanical characteristics had values for the modulus of elasticity of 1952–7282 MPa, the modulus of rupture of 20.44–68.27 MPa, and the internal bonding of 0.16–0.38 MPa, which met the JIS A 5908-2003 standard. Based on these results, the particleboard with Belangke bamboo layers was the best in this study.