Journal of Building Engineering 9 (2017) 5259

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Journal of Building Engineering

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Bamboo reinforced prefabricated wall panels for low cost housing

a, a a b
crossmark
Vishal Puri , Pradipta Chakrabortty , Sourav Anand , Swapan Majumdar
a
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, IIT Patna, India
b
Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Kharagpur, India

A R T I C L E I N F O A BS T RAC T

Keywords: With the increasing population there is a tremendous exploitation of natural resources to produce conventional
Sustainable infrastructure building materials such as bricks, cement and reinforcing bars. This exponentially increases their prices and also
Bamboo Reinforced Structure deteriorates the environment by production of large amount of greenhouse gases. So, there is a need to develop
Low cost housing cheap and sustainable infrastructure. This paper presents an alternative sustainable infrastructure component
Pre-fabricated wall panels
prefabricated bamboo reinforced walls benecial for low cost housing. To determine the potential of these
panels in the construction industry, the strength analysis along with the cost estimation and environmental
impact analysis were also carried out for these panels. It was observed that these walls are 56% lighter in weight,
40% cheaper and have good strength as compared to partition brick walls. The benets of these walls over the
traditional brick walls were observed to be signicant, through which it can be concluded that these wall panels
have a great potential for low cost housing.

1. Introduction cheap, sustainable, environmental friendly and must have satisfactory

structural properties.
Even though the industrialization was started century ago, but still Number of studies has been undertaken to look out for such
mankind is unable to provide shelter to all. Housing problem is at unconventional building materials. In the last few decades' number
alarming level with millions worldwide without shelter especially in of materials such as kevlar, polyster, carbon bers, metal alloys were
developing countries. As per the report of Ministry of Housing and looked upon as a building material [4]. However, the production of
Urban Poverty Alleviation, Government of India, the housing shortage such materials is a complex process which cannot be manufactured at a
in India itself was estimated as 18.78 million at the beginning of 12th village level from the locally available materials and technologies. To
Five Year Plan (201217) [1]. With the ever increasing population resolve the problem of housing shortage, which is predominant for the
there is already a tremendous exploitation of natural resources, which people living below poverty line, it is essential to develop building
has increased the price of conventional building materials substan- technologies which can be used at a village level from the locally
tially. Millions of people across the world are living below poverty line available materials to construct the building components such as
without proper shelter. This brings a lot of pressure on Government to beams, columns, slabs and walls at a much cheaper cost than the
provide cheap alternative solution to this group of people. traditional building materials. Also with the increasing population and
Beside this, the production of conventional building materials such shortage of land it is imperative to look for multi-storied structures and
as steel, cement and bricks involves high energy consumption and prefabricated technology is one of the best options for that.
production of greenhouse gases which damages the environment. The In the present study, a new approach to develop one such building
average temperature worldwide has reached alarming levels causing component walls have been presented by the authors. These wall
the glaciers to melt and increase in the sea level. Due to which various components are prefabricated, cheap, made from sustainable materials
coastal regions are at the verge of drowning underwater. Countries such as bamboo and y ash and have a great potential in the
such as Maldives have already lost a large chunk of their land due to construction industry.
global warming [2]. In the UN climate change conference (Paris, 2015),
it was decided to limit the temperature increase by 1.5 C above pre- 2. Bamboo as an engineering material
industrial levels which requires a lot of reduction in carbon dioxide
emission into the atmosphere [3]. Thus there is a great need to look out Bamboo is a giant grass with more than 1200 species, some of them
for alternative materials for construction industry which should be growing at a phenomenal growth rate of 91 cm per day as per the

Corresponding author.
E-mail address: [email protected] (V. Puri).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2016.11.010
Received 21 April 2016; Received in revised form 19 November 2016; Accepted 19 November 2016
Available online 20 November 2016
2352-7102/ 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
V. Puri et al. Journal of Building Engineering 9 (2017) 5259

Table 1
Comparison of different properties between bamboo and steel [7].

Sl. No. Property Steel Bamboo

1 Density (kg/m3) 7850 (515817) for different species in Green Condition

(640758) for dierent species in Air Dry Condition [8]
2 Modulus of Elasticity (N/mm2) 2105 (0.6115.01)x103 for dierent species in Green Condition
(3.7721.41)x103 for dierent species in Air Dry Condition [8]
3 Grading for Structural Utilization As per its Yield stress, ultimate tensile stress, As per diameter, taper, straightness, inter nodal length, wall thickness,
elongation. density and strength, durability and seasoning [8]
4 Compression Strength Mild Steel - Compression in column (25100) [9] MPa
bars:130 MPa
5 Tensile Strength Mild Steel - Permissible stress in tension (100 400) [9] MPa
140 MPa (upto 20 mm dia)
130 MPa (over 20 mm dia)
6 Bending Strength 0.66*yield stress (70300) [9] MPa
7 Factor of Safety (F.O.S) 1.15Structural member for limit state of For safe working stresses of bamboo [8]
collapse 4Extreme ber stress in beams
4.5Modulus of elasticity
3.5Maximum compressive stress parallel to bers
8. Ratio of tensile strength (N/m2) to 5326 Six times greater than steel [4]
specic weight (N/m3)

Guinness Book of world records [5]. Bamboo has a great economical of such structures. Dash et al. [14] have shown a scientic approach of
advantage as it reaches to its full growth in few months [4] and is constructing a bamboo reinforced concrete house which involves the
abundantly available in tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. bamboo frames made up with bamboo strips weaved inside and joined
Production of every ton of bamboo consumes about a ton of atmo- together with nuts and bolts and then plastered using cement mortar.
spheric CO2 in addition of releasing fresh oxygen in the atmosphere However, such type of housing concept is not suitable for multi-storey
[6]. Bamboo is found to be about 50 times more energy ecient as structures.
compared to steel in terms of energy required to produce them [4]. Bamboo based walling system was developed by Vengala et al. [15]
Bamboo is pliable, lightweight, has excellent tensile strength and has a which was made from bamboo grids, bamboo columns and a steel wire
very good weight to strength ratio which makes it highly useful against mesh. It was concluded that such type of walls can sustain the most
high velocity winds and earthquakes. Table 1, discusses the comparison severe conditions likely to be experienced during the life span of the
between steel and bamboo properties. structure. Design of dierent types of bamboo based wall panels was
discussed by Paudel [16] such as Quincha walls with bamboo poles,
2.1. Bamboo in the construction Grid wall system etc. The strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats of promoting bamboo for housing were also discussed. It was
Performance of bamboo as a construction material was studied as observed that bamboo is an excellent building material suitable for
early as 1914 by Prof. H.K. Chow [10]. In that study small diameter dierent economic groups as it oers a range of building options.
bamboo and bamboo splits were used as reinforcement material for Bamboo walls provide good thermal comfort compared to modern
concrete applications. However, elaborative research started only after concrete as discussed by Dash et al. [14]. Indian Plywood Industries
1950's with research projects on bamboo as reinforcement in concrete. Research and Training Institute (IPIRTI) have developed a two story
The issues such as debonding of concrete, water absorption, fungus house using bamboo at Bangalore. The house has split bamboo grid
attacks, and coecient of thermal expansion were predominant and and wire mesh plastered with cement mortar as walls and bamboo
not much further research was carried out. Later in 1995, Prof. K. columns providing the support and the ceiling was made up of light
Ghavami again started a number of mechanical tests using bamboo as bamboo mat used with corrugated sheets. These types of houses are
reinforcement in concrete [11]. It was observed that bamboo consider- suitable for earthquake prone areas as discussed in the study.
ably increased the load bearing capacity of the composite. Also, many Widyowijatnoko [17] developed a low cost house using prefabricated
researchers across the world have proven that bamboo can be bamboo reinforced components consisting of bamboo reinforced con-
considered as an alternative to steel as a tension element [4,6,9 crete partition wall panel of size 430110 (cm3), bamboo reinforced
13,15,16] due to its excellent tensile strength as compared to its weight. formwork panel, bamboo reinforced door-window frame and steel
reinforced concrete tie beam. Study observed that the properties of
2.2. Bamboo in walls bamboo are excellent as compared to that of steel. It was also observed
that the bamboo reinforcement improves the tensile strength of
Walls usually occupy the largest area of a building and require large prefabricated panels [17].
amount of construction material. Traditionally bricks are used in walls
which increases the dead load of a building considerably and also
further aect the seismic performance of the building. However, bricks
increase the wall cost considerably and also causes land degradation by 3. Development of a prefabricated bamboo reinforced wall
consuming the top fertile soil. When bamboos are cut into tiny strip panel
and are woven, it enhances its tensile strength which makes it suitable
for wall panels [4]. These bamboo strips based wall panels can provide Residential multi-storey buildings usually have the ceiling height at
an alternative to traditional brick walls. 30003600 mm. Frame structures are usually preferred for such
Over the period of time, bamboo based walls are used in the rural structures with walls acting as partition walls that are built at a later
regions where mud plaster is often used over a bamboo based grid. stage. Thus to test the feasibility of proposed alternative partition wall a
However, these walls are not durable for regions having heavy rainfall. 50 mm thick prefabricated panel 2440 mm long, 300 mm wide has
Over the last few decades, researchers have proposed dierent im- been developed. The sizes of such prefabricated panels can be varied
provements for such walls and have achieved signicant performance based on the requirements.

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V. Puri et al. Journal of Building Engineering 9 (2017) 5259

Fig. 1. Bamboo mesh.

3.1. Preparation of bamboo mesh of concrete. A layer of 20 mm of cement mortar was rst laid in a
mould of size 2440 mm long and 300 mm wide. The treated bamboo
Bamboo strips were obtained by nely cutting the bamboo culm mat was then placed on it and again cement mortar was poured on the
(Bambusa Balcoa) and were 35 mm thick. Bamboo mesh outer frame mat. The mortar was placed in such a way that it passes through the
was rst crafted with two layers of bamboo strips connected together by crisscross pattern of bamboo mat and the total thickness of panel is
steel wires. This frame was then weaved with bamboo strips inside 50 mm. Guidelines as prescribed by IS:2250 (Indian Standard - Code
hand woven in a crisscross pattern for a size of 2390 mm long by of Practice for preparation and use of masonry mortars) [19] were
250 mm wide. The crisscross pattern was such that the size of each box followed for the preparation of mortar and IS:2116 [20] (Indian
was approximately 50 mm by 50 mm (shown in Fig. 1) to allow for the Standard - Specication for sand for masonry mortars) were followed
smooth passage and bonding of cement mortar. The bamboo mat was for sand utilized in the mortar. A detailed methodology for selecting the
then sun dried for extracting the moisture present in the bamboo design mix of mortar has been discussed in Section 6. The developed
strips. bamboo reinforced prefabricated wall panel is shown in Fig. 3.

3.2. Treatment of bamboo mesh 3.4. Wall panel connections

Lime water treatment was used to prevent the degradation of The panels can be laterally connected by high strength steel wire
bamboo which occurs due to fungus production and termite attack as loop boxes. These loop boxes have steel wires in a circular loop at one
cellulose is present in bamboo. This type of treatment is one of the end and a triangular loop at the other. The loop boxes are casted along
cheapest and most conventional methods. After the lime water treat- with the panel edges such that the adjacent wire loops of two panels
ment bamboo mats were sun dried again to remove the moisture as overlap over each other at the edges during interconnection between
bamboo is prone to water absorption which further degrades its two panels. Then these panels are interconnected by placing a
engineering properties. Bamboo mesh must be treated rst to protect reinforcing bar inside the wired loops by using a high strength grout
it from moisture internally as well as externally. Also, the bond strength to complete the connection as shown in Fig. 3. The vertical connections
of bamboo mats with mortar is dependent on the dierent types of of panels to slabs can be done by using 12 mm dowel bars as shown in
epoxies (for external protection) used on bamboo with further coating Fig. 3. These bars are casted along the center of the panel and are
of selected sand particle sizes. Researchers have studied the behavior of connected with the triangular edge of the loop box wire. The panels are
bamboo bond strength with concrete under the dierent types of then connected in the slabs by grouting the bars inside the hollow
epoxies such as Araldite, Araldite with binding wire, Tapecrete P-151, spaces left in the slabs.
Sikadur 32 Gel, Negrolin, Negrolin with sand, Negrolin with sand and
wire. It was observed that the Sikadur 32 gel gives the best results 4. Cost & dead load analysis
[4,18]. In the present study, Sikadur 32 LP epoxy, an alternate to
Sikadur 32 Gel was used. However, such epoxy treatment is expensive Walls generally occupy the largest surface area of any construction
which can be further reduced by using cheaper treatments such as and especially in the multi storey structures. Thus, the cost of a
asphalt paints, tar based paints, bituminous materials to make bamboo structure can be considerably reduced if the cost of wall is reduced.
impermeable [4]. Fig. 2 shows the lime water treated bamboo mat Table 2 shows the rates obtained from Delhi Schedule of Rates (DSR-
coated with epoxy and sand particles. Sand particle sizes passing 2014) of various building materials used in the cost analysis [21]. The
through 4.75 mm and retained on 2 mm sieve sizes were bonded with cost analysis of a conventional brick wall with the proposed prefabri-
epoxy to increase the bond strength of bamboo with mortar in the cated wall panel system for a 2440 mmx2440 mm wall has been
present study. compared in this study. From the cost analysis as discussed in
Table 3 it is observed that the cost of proposed wall system is about
40% cheaper than conventional brick wall system. Also, further cost
3.3. Wall panel casting methodology
reduction in the walls made from prefabricated panels could also be
achieved by using cheaper chemical treatments for bamboo such as
As the cement mortar is a thick binder it has been preferred instead
cement paste coating, asphalt paints or tar based paints and by utilizing
the cheaper alternative to dowel bars for connections such as metal
plates. The discussed brick wall calculation is based on a single wall
system used generally as partition walls in framed structures.
In contrast to conventional brick walls, the proposed prefabricated
wall panel system is much more eco-friendly as it involves natural
products such as bamboo which absorbs greenhouse gases and releases
oxygen which is useful to reduce the global warming. Even though the
bamboo consumption is less in walls but its usage actually reduces the
consumption of environmental degrading building materials such as
cement and bricks. Moreover, in these panels y ash was used as a
replacement of cement which further reduces carbon footprint.
Since the dead load of a building signicantly impacts its perfor-
Fig. 2. Lime water treated bamboo mat coated with epoxy and sand. mance under the earthquake load, a dead load analysis was also carried

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V. Puri et al. Journal of Building Engineering 9 (2017) 5259

Grouted Joints having wired loop

a) b) boxes connected with dowel bars

2440 mm

Loop Boxes for

inter-connection

Reinforcing dowel bars for connections in slabs

300 mm 300 mm

50 mm

Grouted Joints with overlapping loop boxes

interconnected with reinforcing bars.
Fig. 3. a) Bamboo reinforced prefabricated wall panel, b) Schematic diagram of Interconnected Panels.

Table 2 anthropogenic CO2 emissions [22]. These emissions further aect the
Rates of various building materials (1 USD=Rs. 67.40 as on 03/03/2016). world climate which ultimately increases the sea levels. As per the
World Climate change agreement (2015), it was accorded to strive for a
Building material, unit Rate per unit, Rs
limit of 1.5 C rise in global warming [23]. So, it is very much benecial
Portland Cement, /t, [19] 6300 to adopt bamboo as a construction material at the earliest. Table 5
Fine Sand, /cu.m, [19] 700 shows the comparative study carried out by author(s) on annual
Brick, /1000 Nos., [19] 5000 environmental impact due to the production of bamboo, steel, cement,
Fly Ash, /cu.m, [19] 8
Bamboo Mesh, /m2 10
bricks and y ash. It was observed that by utilizing bamboo in
Epoxy, /kg [19] 150 construction industry, a substantial amount of greenhouse gases (102
Dry Hydrated Lime, /qt 230 million tonnes) could be reduced from the atmosphere yearly. At the
Dowel bars, /qt 4500 same time, replacement of steel by bamboo also reduces the steel
demand in the construction Industry. This ultimately reduces the
emission of carbon-di-oxide into the atmosphere. A large amount of
out in this study. The dead load comparison is shown in Table 4. It was
land and energy could also be saved by using y ash as a replacement
observed that the proposed prefabricated wall panels are around 56%
for cement. However, this all could be achieved only when detailed
lighter in weight as compared to that of a conventional brick masonry
guidelines are framed for such type of constructions.
wall.

5. Environmental impact assessment 6. Experimental investigation

Construction industry is one of the most polluting industries in the Masonry structures are usually aected due to the out of plane
world. Production of cement itself contributes about 5% of the global collapse of walls due to their brittle behavior during earthquakes. As an

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V. Puri et al. Journal of Building Engineering 9 (2017) 5259

Table 3
Comparative cost analysis (1 USD=Rs. 67.40 as on 03/03/2016).

2440 mmx2440 mm Conventional brick partition wall 2440 mmx2440 mm Prefabricated bamboo reinforced wall (8 Panels)

Total Bricks320 Nos. a. (Bamboo

One Panel Cost:Rs 309.00
Brick CostRs 1600.00 mat+epoxy+lime) costRs (10+18+5)=Rs 33
Mortar [1:6 Mix] Cost (Brick Bonding & External Plaster [10 mm])Rs 1106.00 b. Mortar Cost (1:2 mix)Rs 166
Manpower Cost for Brick Bonding & External Plaster ( Two mason@Rs 500.00 & one labor
@ Rs 350.00) for 8 hrs 1350.00
c. Cost for panel connections by dowel bar, loop boxes and grouting per panel
Rs 110.00
Manpower Cost for panel casting & assembly at site (Two labors for 2 hrs@
Rs350 for 8 hrs) Rs 262
Additional
650
Average Cost of Transportation of Bricks, cement and sand to site till 5 kmRs Additional Average Cost of Transportation of 8 Panels to site till 5 kmRs 100

Total CostRs 4706 Total CostRs 2834

Table 4 practical engineering applications to approximate complex behavior in

Comparison between weight of conventional brick partition wall and prefabricated those ranges. A detailed discussion about the procedure for formulating
bamboo reinforced wall. a response surface model has been described by Chakrabortty (2008)
2440 mmx2440 mm Partition 2440 mmx2440 mm Prefabricated
[32]. The regression equation of response surface model for calculating
brick wall with 10 mm External bamboo reinforced wall compressive strength is as follows:
Plaster
Ln(Compressivestrength) = 1.076 + 0.012 F.A + 1.716 M.P
Brick Density1.9 g/cm3 Size of Panel
Size of Brick-23011070 mm 2440 mmx300 mmx50 mm 7.59 WCR + 0.023 C.D
Mortar Mix For Plaster1:6 Mortar Mix:1:2 + 0.076 F.A M.P 0.010 F.A
Plaster
sides
of 10 mm thickness on both Bamboo mesh weight3 kg WCR 4.611 105 F.A C.D
Total Weight-1865 kg Total Weight823 kg + 0.252 M.P WCR
+ 0.015 M.P WCR
alternative to these brick walls, authors have discussed here-in the 1.008 104 F.A2 1.969 M.P2
potential of bamboo reinforced prefabricated wall panel system. It is + 9.710 WCR2 1.534 104 C.D2
also very much essential to study the performance of these wall panels 9.373 105 F.A M.P C.D
such as panel strength and its exural behavior before use in the 7.432 F.A2 M.P (1)
construction industry. A bamboo reinforced prefabricated wall panel
was casted by following the methodology as described earlier in the where:
paper. However, to decide the mortar mix, water cement ratio, y ash F.A=Fly ash content and its value ranging from 2878%.
content and the number of days of curing a statistical tool namely M.P=Mix proportion (Cement: Sand) and its value ranging from 0.1
design of experiment was used. Design of experiment implemented in to 1.0.
the software - Design Expert was used to predict the optimized y ash WCR=Water cement ratio and its value ranging from 0.25 to
content as a replacement of cement, based on the dierent input design 0.5 C.D=Curing duration in Days and its value ranging from 7 to 90
points by formulating a statistical model. Face centered central days.
composite design (CCD) method was used in this study to formulate This model was further validated with experimental results of
the model. In face-centered central composite design with four factors cement mortar cubes as shown in Table 6. Values of four dierent
and ve replications, 126 design point and experiment are required factors are selected randomly for validation of the model. Compressive
[31]. Testing on each cube was considered here as an experiment and strength of the cubes was predicted for all these test points. Cube
each combination of factors was considered here as design point. samples were casted and were tested in these points. Predicted cube
Design Expert software was used to statistically analyze the response strength was then compared with experimental test results. This model
and t the response surface model. The response considered here is was after validation used to optimize the y ash content as a
cube compressive strength. Statistical analyses were performed to nd replacement of cement in mortar. It was observed that the optimum
out whether the formulated model is appropriate or not. The formu- y ash content, mortar mix proportion and water cement ratio as
lated model is valid in the studied ranges and can only be used in obtained from CCD method using PPC cement was 63.71%, 1:1 and
0.25 for 28 days curing time. Mortar cubes casted for these values of

Table 5
Comparative study of different building materials affecting environment per year.

Product Annual production Energy involved Eect on environment

Bamboo 20 million hectare land under cultivation Each year, a hectare of Moso bamboo absorbs 102 million tonnes of CO2 is absorbed yearly. Further utilization in
[24], average 1000 poles per hectare [25] 5.1 t of CO2 [26] construction industry will lead to an increase in Bamboo production
and reduction in CO2.
Steel 1662 Million Tonnes in 2014 worldwide Every ton of manufacture produces over two 3324 Million Tonnes of CO2 is released in atmosphere per year.
[27] tons of CO2 due to burning of fossil fuels. [6]
Cement 4193 million metric tons worldwide [28] Every ton of manufacture produces over two 8386 million tonnes of CO2 is released in atmosphere per year.
tons of CO2 due to burning of fossil fuels. [6]
Bricks 1.23 trillion bricks worldwide [29] Produces 800,000,000 t of CO2 each year for 800 million tons of CO2 each year. [29]
1.23 trillion bricks. [29]
Fly Ash 170 million tons in India [30] Waste material produced by burning of coal. 70000 acres of land is presently occupied by ash ponds in India Itself.
Produced in large quantities by thermal power
plants.

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V. Puri et al. Journal of Building Engineering 9 (2017) 5259

Table 6
Validation of RSM model [31].

Fly ash Mix w/c ratio Curing days Predicted Experimental

content proportion from CCD result (MPa)
(cement: model
sand) (MPa)

50 1 0.25 7 7.28 7.76

50 0.1 0.5 7 1.34 1.36
50 1 0.5 7 6.26 6.16
50 0.1 0.25 7 1.66 1.84
50 0.55 0.375 31.5 6.81 9.84
50 1 0.5 56 18.56 18.96
50 1 0.25 56 21.61 20.08
50 0.1 0.25 56 3.04 3.36
50 0.1 0.5 56 2.46 2.64
28 0.1 0.25 7 1.55 1.52
28 0.1 0.5 7 1.34 1.36
28 1 0.25 7 4.82 4.72
28 1 0.5 7 4.39 4.4
28 0.55 0.375 48.5 7.75 7.84

Table 7
Prediction of mortar cube compressive strength for various curing days.

Fly ash Mix proportion w/c ratio Curing days PPC CCD model
content (cement: sand) (MPa) predicted results
(MPa)

63.71 1 0.25 7 6.2

63.71 1 0.25 28 10.38
63.71 1 0.25 60 17.57
63.71 1 0.25 90 21.62

various factors and tested for their compressive strength gave the
experimental strength as 11.6 MPa. This was in close comparison with
the predicted compressive strength of 10.45 MPa from CCD model.
From the literature it has been also observed that y ash-cement based
structures attains higher strength after larger curing days of time as
compared to standard 28 days of curing of only cement based
structures. Thus it was essential to further evaluate the strength of
optimized y ash based cement mortar cubes for larger curing days. It Fig. 4. Rebound hammer test.
was observed from the predicted results that the strength kept on
increasing with the curing days till 90 days as shown in Table 7.
Thus to test the feasibility of these panels authors used the above
mentioned mortar mix, water-cement ratio and y ash content for
casting the panels whose results have been discussed here in next
subsections.

6.1. Rebound Hammer Test

Rebound hammer test was originally intended for predicting the

compressive strength of concrete on site [33]. It is an instrument which
applies a punch of certain energy when pressed against a surface as
shown in Fig. 4. The hammer is loaded with spring loaded steel mass
that applies energy on the surface.
Rebound hammer test correlates well with the masonry strength
[34]. It is an excellent tool for evaluating the uniformity of material
properties throughout the structure. Hence, for determining the
strength of the bamboo reinforced prefabricated panel, rebound
hammer test was used. The bamboo reinforced panel was tested at 6
points to evaluate the uniformity of strength. Points were marked at Fig. 5. Rebound hammer test strength values in MPa.
100 mm from the longitudinal edges. The rebound hammer test values
are dependent on the surface characteristics which is further depen- strength of 1020 MPa as per New Zealand Society for Earthquake
dent on surface uniformity and texture. Therefore, the average strength Engineering (NZSEE) 2006 [33] and type SW bricks (Severe weath-
values were calculated for whole model. A maximum of 20.3 MPa and a ering bricks) whose compressive strength is 16 MPa as per ASTM C62
minimum of 13.4 MPa strength values were observed as shown in [35]. Also if compared with masonry mortar strength of 5.2, 12.4 and
Fig. 5. It was observed that the average compressive strength for panel 17.2 MPa for type N, S and M mortar as per American Society of the
was 17.6 MPa. This value was close to the higher limit of sti bricks

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V. Puri et al. Journal of Building Engineering 9 (2017) 5259

International Association for Testing and Materials (ASTM - C270)

[36], the strength of these panels is comparable to type M mortar.
From the above values it was ascertained that the panel strength is
within the upper limits of Type SW bricks and Type M mortar. Also
contemplated was that the panel strength is comparable to high
strength bricks and mortars. In literature it has been observed that
the masonry compressive strength is lower as compared to its
individual brick unit and masonry of similar strengths [33]. It can be
thus concluded that the proposed prefabricated bamboo reinforced
wall panel has high strength as compared to masonry walls made from
Type SW bricks and Type M mortar which is generally used in building
construction. Fig. 7. Load vs deection curve under transverse load.

6.2. Flexural Loading Behavior computer controlled actuator was used more accurate results can be
obtained.
Transverse load test (Specimen Horizontal) was conducted to study It was observed that the main cause of failure of panel was due to
the exural behavior of the panels. Hydraulic jack was used to apply the debonding of bamboo mat from the mortar surface. The mortar layer
load and the panel displacements were measured by linear velocity rst debonded from bamboo and then the panel failed as shown in
displacement transducer (LVDT) connected with a data logger. Fig. 8. However, this failure is assumed to be due to replacement of
Hydraulic jack was placed on top of a steel I-section. This steel I cement by high amount of y ash. It was also observed that similar
section transferred the load to the panel via the roller supports placed panels when tested without y ash did not show debonding failure. It
at L/4 from the center where L is the eective length of the panel as per was calculated that the exural strength (=3FL/4bd2) at 232 kg load
ASTM E-72 [37]. At the top of the center point of the slab and at L/4 was 5.12 MPa.
distance from the center point two LVDT's were xed to check the As compared to un-reinforced masonry structures which are non-
deection of the panel. The test setup for transverse load test homogeneous, inelastic and orthotropic material assemblage con-
(Specimen Horizontal) is shown in Fig. 6a and schematic diagram of structed from individual bricks and mortar, the above panels have
loading is shown in Fig. 6b. relatively better strength properties.
Loading was increased gradually until the panel cracked and nally
failed. At dierent loadings the panel deections were noted and a
load-deection curve was plotted as shown in Fig. 7. In the panel 7. Conclusion
exural cracks started appearing around 147 kg load. At 147 kg the
deection at the central point was observed as 29.78 mm which This paper has described a scientic approach for developing a new
increased rapidly to 35.82 mm at 157 kg load. It was observed that at type of bamboo reinforced prefabricated wall panel system along with
this load the exural cracks started widening. A maximum deection of the feasibility study as compared to masonry walls. The proposed wall
43.59 mm was observed at the center of the panel after which the panel system is considerably cheap, lightweight and energy ecient
deection was not measurable due to the deection value exceeding than the traditional brick walls. The advantages of the proposed wall
LVDT working range. However, the load was increased and it was panel system are:
observed that the maximum load at which panel failed was 232 kg. At
this load the deection measured at L/4 distance from the center was It reduces the dead weight of walls by 56% as compared to brick wall
observed to be 31.32 mm. Due to the limitation of the equipment (5 in. thick). Therefore use of these panels can improve the
(hydraulic jack which was used for applying the load) load was applied performance of structure during earthquake.
gradually in steps (manually). The load reading was noted from the
gauge (least count 25 kg) of the hydraulic jack and the displacement It can considerably reduce the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
was obtained from LVDT data logger display which was then synchro- when mass scale production can be adopted for proposed panels, as
nized with time. Instead of manually operated hydraulic jack if a it will reduce the consumption of environmental degrading conven-
tional building materials such as steel, cement and bricks.

Proposed wall system doesnt require sophisticated technical skills,

only jointing at site is required.
Quality control is much easier as prefabricated panels can be
manufactured at casting yard.
The cost of panel is about 40% cheaper than conventional single wall
bricks (5 in. thick) which could be further reduced on mass
manufacturing of such panels and by utilizing cheap treatment
and connection methods.
Proposed wall system has high strength and exibility compared to
masonry walls.

It was observed that the proposed wall system can considerably

reduce the harmful greenhouse gases. However, limited codal guide-
lines for bamboo as an engineering material, is hindering the mass
application of these wall panels. Such type of structures can pave the
way for sustainable infrastructure especially for low cost housing
segment. However further investigation of parameters such as re
Fig. 6. a) Front view of the transverse load test setup, b) Front view of the transverse resistance, structural behavior under various loading, water absorption
load test setup. and seismic response etc needs to be studied extensively.

58
V. Puri et al. Journal of Building Engineering 9 (2017) 5259

Fig. 8. a) Debonding failure, b) Closer view of debonding failure.

Acknowledgments [16] S.K. Paudel, Engineered bamboo as a building material, in: Proceedings of rst
international conference on modern bamboo structures, Changsha, China, 2007,
pp.3340
Research was funded by Indian Institute of Technology- Patna, [17] A. Widyowijatnoko, Prefabricated low cost housing using bamboo reinforcement
India. The opinions and ndings in this paper are those of authors and and appropriate technology, In: Proceedings of rst international conference on
modern bamboo structures, Changsha, China, 2007, pp. 223230
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bamboo reinforced concrete beams and columns, Constr. Build. Mater. 71 (2014)
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