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Composite bamboo shear walls – A shear wall system for affordable and sustainable housing in tropical developing countries

Authors

Sebastian Kaminski

Luis Felipe López

David J A Trujillo

Edwin Zea Escamilla

Verónica Correa-Giraldo

Juan Correal-Daza

Abstract

Composite bamboo shear walls (CBSW) are modern engineered vernacular-improved shear walls, that take the traditional Latin American wattle-and-daub known as bahareque, and engineer it, using modern materials and construction techniques. CBSWs consist of a frame made of timber and/or large-diameter bamboo, upon which a matrix of cane, small-diameter bamboo, flattened bamboo, bamboo laths, or expanded steel mesh is nailed. The walls are then finished with cement or lime render to form solid shear walls. Over the past 30 years, at least 4000 one and two-storey homes utilizing modern CBSWs have successfully been constructed in various countries around the world, including Costa Rica, Colombia, Nepal, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, El Salvador, and the Philippines. When properly designed and built, they have demonstrated their effectiveness as an affordable, hazard-resilient, low-carbon, and durable form of housing. The system is now codified in the Colombian, Ecuadorian, and Peruvian structural standards, as well as in ISO 22156. Efforts are currently underway to incorporate them into the Philippines, Mexican, and Nepalese codes. This paper describes the history of the CBSW system, variations that exist across the world, the current state of knowledge with regard to codes, strength, ductility, sustainability, and fire, and recommendations for areas of future research. The paper argues that the CBSW system is an effective way of creating low-carbon housing that provides excellent code-compliant strength, ductility, and durability, and has significant potential for affordable housing in lower and middle-income highly seismic countries where bamboo grows.

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Bridging Housing and Climate Needs: Bamboo Construction in the Philippines

Authors

Timo Bundi

Luis Felipe Lopez

Guillaume Habert

Edwin Zea Escamilla

Abstract

The Philippines faces a significant shortage of affordable housing, and with the growing
urgency brought by climate change, there is a pressing need for more sustainable and affordable
building solutions. One promising option is cement bamboo frame buildings, which blend traditional
bamboo building methods with modern materials. This approach is already being implemented
in social housing projects in the Philippines. Dynamic lifecycle assessment (DLCA) calculations
show that these bamboo buildings can effectively reduce overall CO2 emissions. Before a building’s
end of life, biogenic effects offset approximately 43% of its total production emissions, while the
temporary carbon storage afforded by these biogenic materials further reduces total emissions by
14%. In comparison to concrete brick buildings, bamboo constructions reduce emissions by 70%.
Transforming an unmanaged bamboo plantation into a managed plantation can potentially triple
the capacity for long-term CO2 storage in biogenic materials and further reduce net emissions by
replacing concrete with bamboo as the main construction material. Thus, bamboo construction offers
a potent, economically viable carbon-offsetting strategy for social housing projects.

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Experimental Study on the Dowel-Bearing Strength of Bambusa blumeana Bamboo Used for SustainableHousing Construction

Authors

Cres Dan O. Bangoy, Jr.

Jedelle Y. Falcon

Hannah Amyrose F. Lorenzo

Steven Royce A. Zeng

Lessandro Estelito O. Garciano

Carlo Joseph D. Cacanando

Abstract

This study addresses the critical issue of dowel-bearing strength in Bambusa blumeana,
a key sustainable construction material crucial for climate change mitigation. Given the lack of
bamboo connection standards, this research focuses on determining the dowel-bearing strength of
Bambusa blumeana, emphasizes factors such as dowel diameter, node placements, and the physical
properties of bamboo. A predictive equation is derived, enhancing the practicality of bamboo in
structural design. The results underscore a notable correlation between dowel diameter and characteristic strength, with implications for engineering practices. Node placements significantly affect
dowel-bearing capacity, while bamboo’s physical attributes, including thickness, culm diameter, and
moisture content, exhibit modest correlations with strength. The derived equation aims to assist
in structural design, mitigating splitting and bearing failures in bamboo structures. This research
establishes a foundation for optimizing the use of Bambusa blumeana in sustainable construction,
advancing the understanding of its dowel-bearing strength for improved sustainability and resilience
in the construction industry. Future research suggestions include exploring bamboo–mortar composites, additional node placements, and employing more comprehensive empirical equations and
curve-fitting techniques. The study advocates for further investigations with more diverse and
larger bamboo samples to bolster robustness. Additionally, delving into bamboo ductility may offer
valuable insights.

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Establishment of Characteristic Shear Strength Parallel to Fiber of Different Local Bamboo Species in the Philippines

Authors

Brian E. Bautista

Lessandro E.O. Garciano

Luis F. Lopez

Abstract

The adoption of bamboo as an alternative to traditional building materials in the Philippines is hampered due to its non-inclusion in the local structural code. Given the inherent variability in the mechanical properties of bamboo, determining its characteristic strength is crucial in the development of the local bamboo structural code. The literature on the characteristic strength of bamboo is also limited. In this study, the characteristic shear strength of several economically viable bamboo species in the Philippines was established based on 220 shear test results. Two factors led to the choice of this mechanical property: (1) Shear strength parallel to fiber exhibits the highest degree of variation among mechanical properties; and (2) Shear is one of the governing forces on joint connections, and these connections are the weak points in bamboo structures when exposed to extreme loading conditions. All tests were conducted in accordance with the ISO 22157-1 (2017) shear test protocol. ISO 12122-1 (2014) was used to calculate the characteristic shear strength. The results showed that Bambusa philippinensis has the highest characteristic shear strength value (7.26 MPa) followed by Dendrocalamus asper (6.98 MPa), Bambusa vulgaris (6.46 MPa), Bambusa blumeana (5.15 MPa), and Gigantochloa apus (5.11 MPa). A comparison of the shear strength values using One-way ANOVA also revealed statistically significant differences in shear strength among these bamboo species, highlighting the importance of bamboo species identification in the structural design process.

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Mechanical Characterization of Bamboo Pole for Building Engineering: A Review

Authors

N. A. Bahrin
M. K. Kamarudin
H. Mansor
Y. Sahol-Hamid
Z. Ahmad,
L. F. Lopez

Abstract

Bamboo is a sustainable and cost-effective alternative to traditional construction materials. Despite the fact that three species are well known for structural applications, namely Dendrocalamus asper, Gigantochloa scortechinii, and Gigantochloa levis, the scientific data for their mechanical characterization is scarcely available and widely dispersed. In addition, a systematic literature review appraising the study advancement of mechanical characterization of bamboo had been unavailable. This paper bridges this gap by conducting a systematic literature review (SLR) of the available literature of mechanical characterization of bamboo pole. A total of 54 relevant articles were retrieved from Scopus and snowballing and then put forward through bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer. The results showed that the distribution of data for physical and mechanical characterization of the aforementioned species was scattered due to the different location (origin), age, and initial moisture content recorded during empirical work among the researchers. This review’s importance and distinctiveness lie in its synthesis of the existing literature on bamboo mechanical characterization. The findings provide a point of reference for both academia and industry by bridging the scarcity of current bamboo engineering data and outlining future possibilities for bamboo research in the building and construction domain.

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Microstructure and Mechanical Performance of Bamboo Fiber Reinforced Mill-Scale—Fly-ash Based Geopolymer Mortars

Authors

Roneh Glenn D. Libre Jr., De La Salle University
Julius L. Leaño Jr., Department of Science and Technology, Philippine Textile Research Institute
Luis Felipe Lopez, Base Bahay Foundation, Inc.
Carlo Joseph D. Cacanando, Base Bahay foundation, Inc.
Michael Angelo B. Promentilla, De La Salle University
Jason Maximino C. Ongpeng, De La Salle University

Abstract

Natural fiber reinforcement in cementitious matrices is being explored to provide an environment-friendly solution for lowering the overall carbon footprint of construction materials while giving the matrix much-needed tensile strength. Short bamboo fibers extracted from Bambusa blumeana or Kawayan tinik using 5% sodium hydroxide solution and treated with 10% aluminum sulfate solution are used to reinforce zero-cement geopolymer mortars. Bamboo fibers with varying lengths of 10 mm, 20 mm, and 30 mm are mixed with mill-scale – fly ash-based geopolymer in varying 0%, 0.5%, 1%, 1.5%, and 2% fiber loading per weight of specimen sample. Compressive strength and split tensile strength tests are administered to small cylinder samples, 50 mm in diameter by 100 mm in height, in accordance with ASTM C780. An optimum fiber length of 20 mm and fiber loading of 1.4% by weight is determined using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). The addition of bamboo fibers increased the unconfined compressive strength up to 292.41% compared to specimens without bamboo fibers. The split tensile strength also improved by up to a 355.82% increase compared to control samples. The corresponding high-strength and low-strength samples are also subjected to Fourier-transform Infrared Spectroscopy – Attenuated Total Reflectance (FTIR-ATR) to investigate and compare the stretching of bands between the raw materials and tested specimens. Scanning Electron Microscopy – Energy Dispersive X-Ray analysis (SEM-EDX) is used to show microscopic images and the elements present in the selected samples. The implications of the results on the material development of bamboo fiber-reinforced geopolymer mortar for construction are discussed.

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