Load-Bearing Capacity of Bamboo Joints and their Use in Truss Structures

Introduction. Bamboo structures have become widespread in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Bamboo is a gradient material with unequal cross-sectional properties and characteristic anisotropy: good properties in the longitudinal and weak transverse directions. The connection of bamboo rods thereby represents a weak point in the design, which is a scientific issue. In modern literature, the lack of the efficiency of various types of bamboo rod joints has been shown leading to a progressive collapse of a structure. The identified gaps in the existing research has enabled us to formulate the aim of the article, which is to develop new types of bamboo rod connections to ensure safe and reliable operation of the truss structure.

Materials and Methods. The object of the study is a bamboo truss with a wall thickness of at least 10 mm. The trusses were calculated by means of the advanced methods of cutting nodes, selecting cross-sections, and designing influence lines.

Research Results. A new design for connecting bamboo rods in the spatial case has been set forth. The advanced spatial hinge is a one-piece hot-forged steel sphere with 18 threaded holes and a machined support surface at angles of 45°, 60° and 90° in relation to each other. A conical steel section is attached at each end of the spatial structure element to transfer force from the bamboo joints to the nodal ones. Due to this tapering cone-shaped section, the nodal joints can be connected to lots of elements at once. The pedestrian bridge truss has been calculated for various load application options. It is shown that the suggested type of connection ensures efficient operation of the spatial structure. The actual reliability factor of 2.33 is 29% over the traditional value.

Discussion and Conclusions. The suggested options for ensuring a reliable connection of bamboo rods are of primary importance in the design and construction of bamboo truss structures of a spatial type. A spherical hinge and a conical attachment with a metal cable create a reliable connection, which is critical for bridge-type structures or residential buildings. The prospects of the work are focused on investigating the efficiency of the suggested compounds in dynamic tasks under a moving load and creep.

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