Laterally Restrained Bamboo Concrete Composite Arch under Uniformly Distributed Loading: Fid-Bau Portal

Laterally Restrained Bamboo Concrete Composite Arch under Uniformly Distributed Loading

Korde, C. / West, R. / Gupta, A. / Puttagunta, S.

The arch, as a structural element, has been used since ancient times, originally in stone or timber, more recently in reinforced concrete or steel. However, the more modern materials involving steel and concrete are highly energy and carbon intensive. Hardwood timber, although renewable, takes between 30 and 50 years to grow when used structurally. But a highly sustainable tropical material, bamboo, a woody grass, requires only 4–5 years of growth before its considerable compressive and tensile strength can be used for developing structural arches for load-bearing applications. This paper investigates the structural performance of bamboo-concrete (Bamcrete) composite parabolic tied arches of span 4.5 m with a rise-to-span ratio of 0.2 under a uniformly distributed loading. An innovative technique of integrating two slender bamboos of the Dendrocalamus strictus genera together to form a rigid joint, termed a Haritha-IITD Bamcrete (HIB) joint, is described. The paper also discusses the test set-up for loading and monitoring the performance of the Bamcrete arch. Furthermore, a comparison is made between the experimental results and computer modeling using STAAD software, where good correlation is obtained within the linear response range. The techniques involved in making a Bamcrete arch are so successful as to suggest strong potential exists for widespread use as a sustainable and renewable structural load-bearing element.