Bamboo is one of the world’s most useful plants. For thousands of years bamboo has been used in many different ways -- from food to medicine to clothing and, in small ways, as a building material.
However, bamboo is not often used as a building material in the developed world. It is not made according to officially set measurementsแมสเชอแม้น, or standards. It simplyชิมพลี grows in the ground. A professor at the University of Pittsburghเพสรเบิก in Pennsylvaniaเพ็นซีเนีย is trying to change that.
The professor and his students are testing the strength of bamboo. They are testing its radialเรดิโอโลด load, or how much pressure or weight it can take before breaking. That pressure was too much. Kent Harries is a professor at the University of Pittsburghเพสรเบิก. Harries says that testing methods for bamboo need to be the same for all. They need to be standardizedสแตนเดอะดาย. Building codes everywhere require strict สตริกstandardization สแตนเดอะดายเซชั่น of tests for all materials, such as timber or concrete. But tests for bamboo have not been standardized. Standardizing test methods for bamboo will help to bring the plant into common use, or the mainstreamเมนสตรีม. It will also give engineers and builders around the world a dependable standard – or as Harries says, a testing method they can hang their hat on."Harries sees bamboo as a great building material.
First, it is strong. The strength of at least three species of bamboo is similar to steel. Besides its strength, Harries says that bamboo has other features that make it a great building material. He says it is resilient, รีซิวเรียน meaning it keeps its shape and strength even under pressure.
Bamboo also grows quickly. Bamboo that is suitable for construction needs much less resources than wood. The harvest cycle of bamboo is about 3 years. Softwoods such as cedar, pine and spruce have a harvest cycle of about 10 years. And hardwoods that come from flowering plants such as oak, maple and walnut need more than 30 years. Harries says bamboo poles could be joined together into columns for building floors and roofs. In many countries they are already used for wall panel structures. Bamboo might have a bad reputation Bamboo is widely used as food for panda bears. It is also used for furniture or man-made building products such as flooring and window covers, or blinds. However, bamboo is not used much outside its native growing area. This is mostly because of its round shape. But there are other reasons too.
Bamboo, it seems, has an image problem. People think – or have the mentality – that bamboo is a low quality building material.