A preliminary study on bamboo–timber composite columns under axial compression

Abstract

Bamboo–timber composite columns hold significant promise as bio-based structural elements. However, research in this area remains limited, especially concerning modern buckling analysis methods that incorporate bio-based constitutive models of engineered bamboo and timber materials. This study aims to address this gap by proposing a proof-of-concept analytical framework based on component-based strategy for buckling analysis, utilising piecewise bio-based material constitutive models as the guide rail for its strain-stage-based component split-up. Preliminary experimental validation was performed to evaluate the feasibility of using component-based analysis to estimate the overall buckling resistance of both composite and non-composite bamboo and timber columns. This initial study offers an alternative analytical approach for estimating the buckling resistance of bio-composite columns and establishes a set of conceptual guidelines and indicative parameters for the experimental design of future research.