Abstract
A thermal insulation material with good mechanical properties which can be used in construction for loading bearing components was developed and studied. The air-dried small diameter original bamboo without destroying the basic structure was used to reinforce the extruded particleboard with different solid density. The results show that the solid density of the particleboard had great effect on the mechanical properties of the composite. The handling of the outer skin of the bamboo did not influence the properties a lot except the elastic modulus of the panels when the solid density is 0.65 g/cm3 and 0.75 g/cm3. The thermal conductivity of the panels is in the same range with expanded Perlite and vermiculite which are commonly used as thermal insulation materials.