Eco-friendly, high-utilization, and easy-manufacturing bamboo units for engineered bamboo products: Processing and mechanical characterization

Bamboo units used for manufacturing engineered bamboo products are typically processed by breaking and planing, resulting in products with high glue content, substantial costs, and adverse environmental impacts. To address these issues, a simple and effective approach for processing standard bamboo units, based on the natural form and structure of bamboo, is proposed and tested in this study. More specifically, bamboo splits were dried at 0.05 MPa pressure and 140 °C for about 2.5 h in a pressurizing device. After drying, the bamboo splits each formed an equal-arc shaped bamboo split (EASB) in which the inner and outer radii were roughly equal. The EASB unit represents a double breakthrough of a high material utilization rate (as high as 80%) and low damage to bamboo. Additionally, the appropriate drying technique improves the dimensional stability and retains the excellent mechanical properties of natural bamboo. This work demonstrates the concept of “natural form inspired design,” and the EASB provides a basis for wider applications of sustainable engineered bamboo products.