Modular Bamboo
Maegan S. 08 February 2022
Modular bamboo can be used as a natural building material that could be a beneficial material to the construction industry. Bamboo is an environmentally friendly, renewable resource that could reduce negative impacts on the environment. It even releases 35% more oxygen and absorbs 35% more carbon dioxide than most trees. Bamboo is readily available and sustainable with an average growth rate of 4 feet per day. For every bamboo stalk that a construction company cuts down, planting just one or two more could mean having a surplus of material to use. Especially with a growing population, there needs to be a sustainable way to construct more buildings without destroying the environment.
The image to the right depicts a school being built that is made out of the native bamboo. Using a simple technique with the bamboo and tying them together on the ends makes for an easy way to construct buildings. Bamboo is also aesthetically pleasing. This opens up good opportunities for bamboo to be used in future construction plans.
Modular bamboo is an extremely strong fiber that is tested to be just as strong or more so than steel, but still lightweight. This makes bamboo versatile as it can handle long spans in designs. The image to the left depicts the process of making a modular bamboo composite wall by rolling out and then gluing layers of Moso bamboo bundle fibers together for added strength and support.
Study of the properties of different bamboo species is important for the selection of a specific species for industrial use with parameters including fiber length, size, cell wall thickness, moisture content, density, shrinkage, and bending strength. Bamboo must not be too flexible or else it will not be sturdy enough to use for buildings, but needs to bend enough to fit design requirements. The target density for modular bamboo composite walls is 1.1 g/cm³. The different types of bamboo are also classified based on cell wall thickness. This is found to be tied to diameter with larger diameters having greater cell wall thickness. This is also found to have a connection to the moisture content increasing as the cell walls increased. The larger culms are therefore more stable and better used for construction. The larger diameter bamboo also has higher tensile strength making them more advantageous to be used for modular construction.
In 2009, a study in Malaysia sought to develop a new green technology concept for commercial use using modular bamboo. The goal was to develop a modular bamboo bus shelter to prove the benefits of the design. The modular system design would enable complex products to be built with the assembly of smaller modules being put together to function as a whole as shown in the image to the right. This includes the hollow bamboo that is made to fit into a cut block of wood that would be able to connect to the bamboo on six sides.
There are many possibilities for how to connect these parts and endless shapes that could be created just using a different variation of the bamboo and connectors. The modularity is meant to accommodate uncertainty in the way it is made by allowing for variations. If another purpose was needed, a part could easily be added without causing there to have to be major changes in the fundamental elements of the design.
A prototype of the modular bamboo bus shelter was constructed, but found to bend downward with connections that weren’t wide or long enough as shown in the top two images to the right.
The team found that the system size and connection distance was contributing to the problem. The connectors were not long or wide enough to provide the stability needed for the structure. Improvements were then added to ensure that the structure would be secure and function properly.
Instead of just having two pieces that would slide together, the new system critiqued the idea. A piece with two cylinder extrusions on the end was used to provide more support. The piece was longer to lessen the possibility of bending downward with the weight of the structure.
Architects have started envisioning the vast impacts the material could have for future implications. An architectural firm Penda has designed an entire city made of modular bamboo that has the ability to expand in many directions to fit over 20,000 people. They would optimize the material by using interlocking bamboo rods, which would also be strengthened by X shaped joints. With advantages of stability and impressive tensile strength, this design has the possibility to support expansive structures.
Architects have started envisioning the vast impacts the material could have for future implications.
An architectural firm Penda has designed an entire city made of modular bamboo that has the ability to expand in many directions to fit over 20,000 people. They would optimize the material by using interlocking bamboo rods, which would also be strengthened by X shaped joints. With advantages of stability and impressive tensile strength, this design has the possibility to support expansive structures.