Experimental study on the combustion properties of four common engineered bamboo and wood composites

Engineered bamboo and wood composites are increasingly utilized in construction due to their eco-friendly, low-carbon footprint, and superior mechanical properties. To investigate the effect of heat flux and grain direction on the combustion properties of parallel strand bamboo (PSB), laminated veneer bamboo (LVB), cross-laminated timber (CLT), and laminated veneer lumber (LVL), a total of 54 specimens in 3 groups were tested through a cone calorimeter. Parameters including the ignition time, heat release rate, mass loss rate, and smoke production rate were investigated. The analytic hierarchy process method was adopted for a multi-level, qualitative, and quantitative comprehensive fire risk assessment of the corresponding structural materials. The test results reveal that PSB and LVB demonstrated superior performance to the CLT and LVL through the comparison of four combustion characteristics parameters, despite their drawbacks and virtues. The heat flux increases in inverse proportion to the ignition time. As for the heat release rate, the larger peak value is accompanied by an earlier appearance, along with the greater average mass loss rate and the lower smoke rate of engineered bamboo. The peak heat release rate of engineered bamboo composites parallel to the grain is larger than that perpendicular to the grain, whereas other parameters are not significantly influenced by the grain direction. Compared with engineered wood, engineered bamboo composites have the potential to be a safer and more reliable building material in terms of fire risk assessment.HighlightsCone calorimeter was used to analyze the combustion properties of materials.PSB, LVB, CLT, and LVL were studied considering different grain directions.Analytic hierarchy process method was adopted for a fire risk assessment.Engineered bamboo has the potential to be a reliable building material. Analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method was adopted for the fire risk assessment of PSB, LVB, CLT, and LVL composites.image