Mechanical performance of parallel bamboo strand lumber columns under axial compression: Experimental and numerical investigation

Abstract This paper presents an investigation on the mechanical performance of parallel bamboo strand lumber (PBSL) columns under axial compression. Experimental test and numerical analysis were performed for 40 PBSL columns with various slenderness ratios. Failure modes, ultimate capacity and load-strain response are reported and evaluated. Compressive failure is the typical failure mode of columns with small slenderness ratios, however, buckling failure is commonly observed for longer columns. Elastic eigenvalue analysis is found effective to predict critical buckling load of long columns, as buckling occurs within elastic range. However inelastic behavior has significant effect on critical load when the buckling stress exceeds proportional limit of the material. As a result, inelastic approaches provide more accurate prediction of critical load for columns with a slenderness ratio lower than the elastic threshold (λy). The presented experimental results and numerical analysis validated the feasibility of the elastic/inelastic buckling analysis approaches on determination of ultimate capacity of axial loaded PBSL columns.