Assessing the mechanical properties of bamboo cultivated in Italy

The excellent mechanical performance of bamboo, coupled with its sustainability, have boosted the use of this plant as a structural material in the last decades. There are countries in which this material has been used in construction for millennia and represents an asset. On the other hand, there are countries where still there is not enough knowledge of the structural properties of locally-grown bamboo. The available studies and data in the literature refer to American or Asian bamboo, and constructions in other parts of the world are made with these imported materials. Expanding the knowledge of bamboo mechanical properties to other species can facilitate its diffusion as a structural material in parts of the world where bamboo is not traditional as such. In order to accomplish this, a very important step is the development of standardised testing procedures. In this paper, the results of an experimental campaign for the mechanical characterization of Phyllostachys Viridiglaucescens grown in Italy is presented. This species is one of the most common bamboo species cultivated in temperate climate. Compressive tests, tensile tests, shear tests and bending tests were performed. The methodology is mainly compliant with the International Standards; however, to cope with the particular physical properties of Italian bamboo, the testing methodology was modified, where needed, with respect to that prescribed by the International Standards.