Master's students at the Department of Metal and Timber Constructions of the Faculty of Civil Engineering conduct tests on the strength of bamboo in the laboratory No. 40 of the SPbGASU Centre for Mechanical Testing of Structural Units (CMTSU). According to the researchers, bamboo has a chance to be widely used in the Russian construction industry because it has better mechanical properties compared to wood. Moreover, the bamboo industry has good economic benefits and social significance.

This research is relevant on a global scale, since the construction industry of any country is interested in using durable materials of high economic value, emphasized Aleksandr Chernykh, head of the Department of Metal and Timber Constructions, professor, supervisor of master’s students.

According to Tatiana Kazakevich, associate professor at the department, PhD of Engineering Sciences, supervisor of master’s students, interest in the use of bamboo in construction in different countries is due to various reasons. For example, in China there is a relative scarcity of forest resources, the rate of forest growth is slow and insufficient to meet the needs of socio-economic development for timber. Russia, on the other hand, is rich in timber, but extracting, processing and maintaining quality timber can entail significant costs. In addition, excessive deforestation has a negative impact on the ecological environment. Therefore, the widespread use of bamboo is important for both countries.

“Bamboo grows quickly and can improve the environment as it grows. Processing the plant requires minimal energy consumption and its waste can decompose naturally, making it an ideal natural, eco-friendly building material. According to available scientific research, to construct a building of the same area, using bamboo consumes about eight times less energy than using concrete, and the energy consumed by bamboo in the same process is only 2% of that required by steel,” said the second-year master’s student Jiang Bo (PRC).

He clarified that the results of research by various scientists showed that due to the structural features of the original bamboo material, it has excellent mechanical properties. However, due to the influence of growth conditions, the age of bamboo and other factors, its quality changes, which affects the strength of the structure.

“Based on this, we developed a new type of lightweight bamboo truss and tested load-bearing bamboo structures for small houses. Our task is to find out how the structure of bamboo material changes under the influence of long-term load. During testing, we will study its tensile strength, compression along the fibers, and bending. Testing processes are carried out at different speeds to reveal the relationship between long-term load and strength,” Jiang Bo said.

For this experiment, the master's students used golden bamboo grown in Abkhazia, which was three to four years old and had a diameter of 110 to 120 mm. To make the bamboo truss more convenient to install, its key parts are assembled using angles, bolts and clamps. The test results showed high mechanical qualities of bamboo raw materials.

In the study, bamboo materials demonstrate superior properties compared to traditional wood and meet the requirements of building structures. This allows them to be used in civil engineering.

“Bamboo trusses have the characteristics of light weight, high strength and environmental friendliness, so they are mainly used for the construction of small residential buildings or public spaces: farmhouses, cafes or small warehouses. Experimental studies have shown that after fifty years the strength of such structures remains at 56%. This means that they can last at least fifty years, and when combined with other materials, their service life can be extended,” concluded Jiang Bo.

To recall, in Russia bamboo grows on Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands, and is cultivated in the Caucasus, Southern Urals, and Krasnodar Territory.