Abstract :
Natural fibers are promising for engineering
applications due to their low cost. They are
abundantly available in tropical and subtropical
regions of the world, and they can be employed as
construction materials. Among natural fibers, bamboo
has been widely used for housing construction around
the world. Bamboo is an optimized composite that
exploits the concept of Functionally Graded Material
(FGM). Biological structures such as bamboo have
complicated microstructural shapes and material
distribution, and thus the use of numerical methods
such as the finite element method, and multiscale
methods such as homogenization, can help to further
understanding of the mechanical behavior of these
materials. The objective of this work is to explore
techniques such as the finite element method and
homogenization to investigate the structural behavior
of bamboo. The finite element formulation uses graded
finite elements to capture the varying material
distribution through the bamboo wall. To observe
bamboo behavior under applied loads, simulations are
conducted under multiple considerations such as
a spatially varying Young’s modulus, an averaged
Young’s modulus, and orthotropic constitutive
properties obtained from homogenization theory. The
homogenization procedure uses effective, axisymmetric
properties estimated from the spatially varying
bamboo composite. Three-dimensional models of
bamboo cells were built and simulated under tension,
torsion, and bending load cases.
