Building a small bamboo shelter : joint design and construction

• Main Author: Ong, Shi Min.
• Other Authors: Lee Chi King
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Environmental engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/38578
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Expected to have the world’s population reaching approximately 7 billion by year 2011, a large percentage of which is concentrated in the less developed countries. With such an increase, the demand for proper housing will thus be intensified. Moreover, due to the limited financial means, cost of the building and the materials should be kept at their minimum. Therefore, addressing these problems, this project aims to explore the utilization and advantageous facts of using bamboo as building materials. Known for the abundant supplies, bamboo as a building material is considerably affordable. Moreover, the bamboo house can be constructed in a short period of time. This factor is essential especially in the disaster stuck areas, where repair and re-construction of the houses are required. For countries that are subjected to earthquakes, having a sturdy house of tough connections and high strength is crucial. However, the availability and knowledge of these data are limited. Thus with the conceptual design of the proposed bamboo shelter, several critical joint connections of the bamboo house will be identified. Besides designing the most feasible and economical joint design, strength tests will also be conducted, in verifying the utmost strength of each individual joint connection. Working as group of 4, joint tests for T and X-joints will be conducted. This report, however, will cover only the design and strength for X-joint, Bolt. Touching on the conceptual joint design of the design stage, the Author shall elaborate on the design and parameters for selected designs. This report shall also emphasis on the fabrication and testing procedures, analyzing the test results at the end. Failures and factors that affect the joint strength will be highlighted, providing a better understanding in the behavior of the joints.