Bamboo As A Building Material | Uses of Bamboo In Construction
Introduction Bamboo Materials
Bamboo which does belong to the grass family — has been associated with various names such as
“poor man’s timber”(low-class material, because people tend to choose brick, concrete and steel as structural and construction materials for modern buildings)
“Cradle to Coffin”
“Green Gold”
Due to its utilization in the industrial sector, food products, construction & structural application, wood substitutes & composites, and handicraft& cottage industry.
The bamboo building materials have been used abundantly in traditional houses is because it grows abundantly in eastern parts of India and some of the southern parts of India. The use of bamboo was obsolete after the commencement of the industrial era as it is cheap and non-permanent material.
Bamboo Distribution In Worldwide
After the hot issues of global warming and sustainability, bamboo is being used as a substitute in place of high-quality woods for construction (to reduce deforestation as the wood takes time to regrow and use as construction material) because bamboo can be harvested in a short time of 3–5 years.
Bamboo construction material has become a sustainable building material as it releases oxygen into the air, an ability that cannot be performed by industrial materials like steel, plastic, and concrete.
Bamboo Growing Areas in India
Bamboo Growing areas in India
States/RegionArea(%)(2003)Growing Stock(%)(2003)Area(%)(2011)North-East286631Madhya Pradesh20.3129Maharashtra9.958Orissa8.778Andhra Pradesh7.456Karnataka5.536Others20.2532
Read More: Top 10 Eco-Friendly Building Materials | Sustainable Building Materials
Property of Bamboo as Construction Material
Bamboo is a family of bambusoideae, and bamboo’s growth character is divided into types: monopodial and sympodial bamboo. Monopodial bamboo roots spread horizontally in shallow depths of soil where the new shoots are produced at a relatively long distance from the parents’ plant.
Sympodial bamboo roots grow very close to parents’ plant, forming a clump of many stems or canes, majority of bamboos found in India are sympodial rhizomes.
Bamboo rods are round, segmented, jointed, and hollow. Bamboo culm consists of 50% parenchyma, 40% fiber, and 10% conducting tissue which indicates that as a construction material, bamboo has a very strong fiber.
- The compressive strength of bamboo is at least twice of concrete.
- Tensile strength of bamboo (28KN/sq.in) is close to steel (23KN/sq.in).
- Shear stress of bamboo fibre is higher than wood, even wider span than wood.
- Curving bamboo is possible without breaking or damage.
- The high elasticity of bamboo makes it useful as a building material in areas of high risk of earthquakes.
- Anisotropic property of bamboo, i.e., possesses cellulose fibre in the longitudinal direction making it strong and stiff while lignin in the transverse direction makes it soft and brittle.
- The fire resistance of bamboo is good, can withstand a temperature of 400°C
Besides the advantageous property of bamboo, bamboo is vulnerable to termites and fungal attacks. So, it is preserved using borax boric acid solution through several techniques, such as immersion, gravitational or vertical soak diffusion, and injection using a compressor machine. Moreover, borax acid is capable to extend the life span of bamboo. Apart from this,
- Bamboo shrinks by 10–16% in cross-section and has a wall thickness of 15–17% that is more than wood when loses water. Measures are taken to prevent water loss when used as a building material.
- Prone to rapidly catch fire by the friction among the culms during wind(in the forest).
- Jointing- although many jointing techniques exist, their structural efficiency is low.
- Untreated bamboo structures can hardly survive with an expected life of a maximum of 5 years.
“Organic form forms that have been generated or created or inspired by natural forms in nature, whose adaption generates irregular geometrics.”
Read More: Fire Resistant Building Materials Used in Construction
Purpose of Bamboo at Different Age
PeriodUse
