Abstract
Bamboo scaffolds have been widely used in construction in South East Asia, in particular, Southern China and Hong Kong for many decades. However, bamboo scaffolds are generally erected by scaffolding practitioners based on their intuition and experiences without any structural design. In order to re-engineer the design and erection of bamboo scaffolds, a research and development project was undertaken to promote the effective use of structural bamboo and bamboo scaffolds with improved safety. As part of the project activities, the axial buckling behaviour of bamboo columns in bamboo scaffolds was examined through both experimental and numerical investigations. Four full-scale bamboo scaffolds were built and tested to failure in order to examine the axial buckling behaviour of bamboo columns in bamboo scaffolds and to identify typical modes of failure. Details of the full-scale tests together with the test results are reported in this paper. Based on a newly formulated design method for bamboo column buckling, an advanced finite element model using second order analysis was adopted to examine the axial buckling behaviour of bamboo columns in bamboo scaffolds. Comparison between the measured and the predicted axial buckling resistances of these bamboo columns is also presented. The effects of lateral restraint arrangement and load distribution are also examined numerically through a systematic parametric study.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 61-73 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Engineering Structures |
Volume | 27 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2005 |
Keywords
- Bamboo scaffolds
- Column buckling
- Finite element modeling
- Full-scale tests
- Lateral restraints
- Second order analysis
- Structural bamboo
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Civil and Structural Engineering