Influence of strand size on the bending properties of parallel strand bamboo

Most bamboo composites are designed referring to the specifications of wood structures. However, this approach is inadequate due to the volume difference between bamboo bundles and other fibers. Previous studies have investigated the effects of strand size of parallel strand bamboo (PSB) in tension and compression. Here, to investigate the impact of varying span-height ratio on the flexural characteristics of PSB, specimens with five different section heights were designed. Numerical simulations were performed to reveal the deformation, the failure process, and the load carrying ability of the PSB beams. The first-order anisotropic beam theory was applied to predict the internal forces. The results show that the bending property of the PSB is closely related to the section height. It is recommended that the dimension of length × width × height (300 mm × 20 mm × 30 mm) should be the most appropriate specimen size for the bending experiment. The error between the theoretical value and the test value was only about 0.4%. These endeavors can facilitate the establishment of bending test standards for bamboo structures.