Potential of three sympodial bamboo species naturally growing in Thailand for structural application

This study evaluated the performance of three sympodial bamboo species naturally growing in Thailand including Pai pa (Bambusa bambos (L) Voss), Pai lummarok (Bambusa longispiculata Gamble) and Pai seesuk (Bambusa blumeana Schultes) with respect to its use as alternative material for building construction. Their anatomical structures and densities were first analyzed. Then, the mechanical properties of these bamboo species were examined and compared with those of structural woods, structural bamboo products (SBPs) and steel. Node effect on mechanical properties of bamboo was also examined. The result showed that most of the mechanical properties examined increased with density regardless of bamboo species type except for shear strengths in longitudinal-tangential plane which seemed to be independent of density and bamboo species type. They were similar for all bamboo species examined. The presence of nodes reduced bending and tensile strengths for all bamboo species examined. Nevertheless, most of the remaining strengths were still similar to or greater than that of structural woods and SBPs, but the remaining tensile strengths were lower than that of steel by about a half. This result indicates that all bamboo species examined have high potential for structural applications.