Experimental Investigation on Flexural Strength Enhancement of Eucalyptus based Bamboo Composite Deck Board

Abstract

The study investigates the effect of the relative height position of specimen and bamboo layering in the preparation of composite flexural material from Eucalyptus Globules and Oxytenanthera abyssinica bamboo for the purpose of floor deck construction. Furthermore, flexural improvement was tested by laminating bamboo beneath eucalyptus, which has a high tensile stress resistance, using unsaturated polyester resin as the bonding medium. The experiment was carried out on specimens taken from the bottom and middle parts of the sample with regard to total height. The results of the tests revealed that single and double-layer bamboo laminated eucalyptus in the bottom part showed an increase in flexural strength by 26.5% and 33.06%, respectively, and that the bottom portion strength had improved due to the addition of bamboo. However, in the case of the middle part specimen, the addition of a bamboo lamination on the Eucalyptus resulted in a (20.31%) increase for single and (−41.79%) decrease for double layer in strength compared to the non-laminated middle part Eucalyptus.

Keywords:

• Eucalyptus wood bamboo composite
• flexural strength
• strength enhancement
• floor deck
• experimental investigation

Acknowledgements

The researchers acknowledged the technical, infrastructural, and financial support for data collection from Ethiopian Road Authority, Bahirdar University, and Addis Ababa University.

Disclosure statement

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Data Availability Statement

Some or all data and models that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request (list items).

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no direct funding for this research.