Glue Laminated Bamboo (GluBam) for Structural Applications

In today's trend of sustainable development, there is a renewed interest to use bamboo for modern building and bridge structures. However, traditional use of raw bamboo culms is not the only and nor the most effective application. The authors developed a laminated bamboo or glubam for general structural applications. This paper describes the manufacturing process of glubam, investigates and analyzes its energy consumption and carbon dioxide emission, and provides main mechanical properties through material testing. Analysis results and comparison with other comparable construction materials show the eco-friendly performance of glubam. The mechanical properties of glubam are promising for general use in construction. Research on connections using steel bolts shows the good connectivity of glubam components similar to timber structures. The paper also summarizes the authors' extensive experimental tests on various glubam components, such as full-scale girders under static and fatigue loads, wall panels under monotonic and cyclic loads, full-scale room models under simulated earthquake load and fire, etc. Several recent practical design and construction of residential and industrial buildings are also briefly introduced.