Investigation into the effects of various processing treatments on the flexural performance of carbon fiber reinforced polymer-bamboo scrimber composites

ABSTRACT Carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates can significantly improve the flexural performance of the bamboo scrimber. This study evaluated the effects of three fabrication methods (one-time hot pressing, secondary hot pressing, and secondary cold pressing) on the flexural performance of CFRP-bamboo scrimber composites. Four-point bending experiments and theoretical analysis were conducted to study the failure modes, flexural performance, load-displacement relationships and strain curves over time of CFRP-bamboo scrimber composites. Besides a theoretical model was proposed to describe the flexural stiffness of CFRP-bamboo scrimber composites. The results indicated that the CFRP-bamboo scrimber composite specimens demonstrated four failure modes depending on the treatment methods. Overall, the static flexural modulus of the one-time hot pressed specimens was superior (up to 1.93 times that of the untreated bamboo scrimber specimen), and the static flexural strength of the secondary cold pressing specimens was superior (up to 3.58 times greater than that of the untreated bamboo scrimber specimen), although neither the static flexural modulus nor the static flexural strength of the secondary hot pressing specimens was satisfactory. Finally, it was illustrated that the theoretical models, established to describe the load-displacement, could accurately predict the experimental results.