Dowel-Bearing Strength Behavior of Glued Laminated Guadua Bamboo

Bamboo is an excellent eco-friendly construction material because of its high renewable rate, embodied energy, reduction of pollution, high strength-to-weight ratio, and low cost. However, the use of round bamboo is limited because of its variations in dimensions, properties, and composition and the difficulty of making connections. Laminated bamboo has the potential to overcome these difficulties. Therefore, its mechanical properties and the behavior of the connections need to be established. In this research, the dowel-bearing strength of glued laminated Guadua angustifolia Kunth bamboo is experimentally determined under nail and threaded bar fasteners with different diameters and in different loading directions. A three-dimensional FEM computational model is developed with excellent agreement with experimental results. It was found that, similar to wood, the bearing strength depends on both the diameter and the specimen width-to-diameter ratio. The local behavior of the zone under the fastener is different from the bulk material. Expressions to determine these local properties as functions of the bulk properties are proposed as well as equations for the bearing strength in terms of the specimen width-to-fastener diameter ratio. DOI:10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0000515. (C) 2012 American Society of Civil Engineers.