Experimental research on prestressed concrete hollow-core slabs strengthened with externally bonded bamboo laminates

This study reports tests of prestressed concrete hollow-core slabs strengthened with externally-bonded laminated bamboo plates. The strengthened slabs are provided with varying ratios of externally-bonded laminated bamboo plate reinforcement having different widths and thicknesses. Structural performance is reported and the relationships between flexure and shear failure modes are described allowing guidance for the design of such externally-bonded laminated bamboo-strengthened hollow-core slabs. The low stiffness of the laminated bamboo helps to mitigate debonding, allowing the strength of the laminate to be fully developed. Both the load bearing and deformation capacities of the slabs are improved with strengthening. A value of equivalent steel reinforcing ratio (accounting for both internal prestressing wire and externally bonded bamboo laminates) rho s,eff = 0.0083 was determined to be the threshold between flexure- and shear-dominated failures. Using simple fundamental analysis, the behavior of the strengthened hollow-core slabs was easily and reliably predicted.