Bamboo-precocious wood composite beams: theoretical prediction of the bending behaviour

A type of sandwich beam, consisting of thin bamboo facings and poplar core, is proposed by the author, in order to increase the use of abundant precocious woods by reinforcing with bamboo layers. The objectives of this study are the experimental characterization of the static bending behaviour of the proposed sandwich beam and examining the theoretical predictability of the behaviour. The moment-deflection curve, computed on the basis of the stress extension across the beam section, corresponded remarkably well to the actual curves from the experiments. This computation method, interpreting the mechanical contribution of the thin bamboo facings to the bending capacity improvement, can be considered effective to estimate the ultimate strength, as well as the elastic plastic deflection evolution of the sandwich beam.