Influence of Moisture Content and Position on the Tensile Strength of Four Air-Dried Bamboo Species

Bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants globally, and it has been used for numerous applications, including in the construction industry. It also has been known that bamboo has an excellent mechanical property, especially in tensile. However, each species has different mechanical properties, and generally, moisture content and the bamboo position have a greater impact on the variation of bamboo properties along with the culm height. Thus, this study focuses on the effect of four bamboo species’ moisture content and position: Dendrocalamus asper, Bambusa vulgaris, Gigantochloa scortechinii, and Shizostachyum grande. The test on the bamboo was conducted after the treatment and air-dried conditioning were completed. The moisture content test and tensile strength test were conducted for each species for 1, 5, and 7 months. The results show that the D. asper and B. vulgaris have the highest tensile strength value, followed by G. scortechinii and S. grande. Moreover, it was observed that the tensile strength of bamboo increased from the bottom to the top part of the bamboo. The moisture content of each species also differs, and the value also increased from the bottom to the top part of the bamboo. The moisture content decreased from 1 to 7 months while the tensile strength increased. It was concluded that the tensile strength of bamboo differs from each species and position, as well as the change in moisture content affects the tensile strength.