Mechanical Behavior of Glued Laminated Bamboo Moment-Resisting Connections

Glued laminated bamboo (glubam) moment-resisting connections, in the forms of bamboo-steel-bamboo (BSB) and steel-bamboo-steel (SBS) connections, were studied in this research. The monotonic and cyclic loading experiments with two types of bamboo panels, unidirectional and multidirectional laminated bamboo, were performed. Test results demonstrated that the off-axis embedment behaviors of bamboo panels significantly influence the mechanical properties of glubam moment-resisting connections. The brittle splitting/shear failure modes can be avoided by using multidirectional laminated bamboo panels. The ultimate bearing strength of the multidirectional laminated bamboo connections was 2.5 times that of the unidirectional one. The application of multidirectional laminated bamboo rather than the unidirectional one in moment-resisting connections significantly improved the energy dissipated ability and ductility ratios from 1.5 to 1.9. Thus, the multidirectional panels were suggested to be used for the structural components with complex stress fields. Methods were also suggested to determine the test curves' initial stiffness and yield moment points. A simplified calculation method of moment-resisting capacities based on the European yield model (EYM), considering the off-axis embedment strength of glubam boards, was suggested for design purposes at the end of this research.