Engineered Bamboo Structures

Bamboo is in the spotlight as a potential building material in the current pursuit of a CO2-neutral society, due to its rapid maturation and excellent mechanical properties. Despite the growing interest in bamboo in academia and society, there is a lack of systematic understanding of the fabrication, design and construction using bamboo as a modern industrial material. This is the first book to describe a new category of structural systems constructed with engineered bamboo. It gives the definition of engineered bamboo (GluBam), in an analogy with steel structure and wood structure. Structural systems and components have been designed using glubam. Then industrialized production processes of glubam are given. Based on the state-of-the-art research, design guidelines are first developed, in a comparable and parallel approach to the existing composite wood structures. The book also shows bamboo structures in the context of sustainable development, including the benefits of using bamboo as an alternative or replacement for wood, for developing countries, many of which are faced with the lack or destruction of forest resources.

Yan Xiao is a Distinguished Professor of Civil Engineering and Director of Energy, Environment and Sustainable Systems Sciences Department at the Zhejiang University - University of Illinois Joint Institute (ZJUI), and Professor at the Sonny Astani Department of Civil Engineering, University of Southern California. His recent research and industrial development efforts focus on modern bamboo structures with the goal of promoting carbon neutrality and sustainability. He has many patents to his name, forming the basis of the award-winning technology GluBam (Glued Laminated Bamboo).