Potential of Bamboo-based Panels
Zheng Kai MSc 1
Chen Xuhe PhD2
1 Beijing Forestry University. Dept. of Material
Science and Technology.
2 International Network for Bamboo and Rattan.
Comparison of Mainstream Construction
Potential of Bamboo-based Panels serving
as Construction Materials
Existing Problems and Possible Solutions
1.1 Prefabricated Construction
At present, prefabrication, as a modern
construction technique, which means making
the whole or part of an unit in some other place
rather than its final position, is attracting ever-
increasing attentions worldwide. In some
developed countries, such as Japan, Canada,
USA, and some EU countries, prefabrication is
becoming more and more popular.
Prefabricated house. All installations are pre-assembled
in the plant.
1.2 Importance of Construction Materials
One of the major concerns that influence the
development of prefabrication is the selection
of construction materials. Not only do the
construction materials influence the efficiency
and smoothness of the prefabrication process,
but also decide the quality and life expectancy
of prefabricated houses.
2. THE COMPARISON OF MAINSTREAM
Traditional materials such as steel, concrete and
clay brick may be not suitable for making
modules in prefabricated construction.
The main reasons are as follows.
1. Their self weights are relatively high;
2. Their raw materials are unrenewable resources;
3. The manufacturing process of these construction
materials will consume large amount of energy
resources, such as fossil fuel and electricity. It
also generates lots of COx and SOx;
4. Disposal of wastes is also a problem.
2.2 Sandwich Panels
Sandwich panels, consisting of two metal or wood
faces positioned on either side of a core of a synthetic
thermally insulated materials, have been widely
utilized in prefabricated construction.
However, there are also existing some problems:
1. The prices of these materials are relatively high;
2. The raw materials of the core usually come
from crude oil which is unrenewable;
3. Disposal is a problem since it may need
specially technique to separate the surface and
core, and also, they are difficult to biodegrade
(especially for the core materials).
2.3 Wood-based Panels
Wood-based panels with good properties are relatively
proper materials which can be used in construction
industry. Prefabricated manufacturing and assembled
construction can reveal advantages of wood-based panels
remarkably. The application of wood-based panels in
construction industry has a broad potential market.
Further studies should focus on:
1.Enlarge the sources of raw materials;
2.Enhance the production;
3. Develop various construction panels with multifunction.
Wood-based panels used in construction
3. POTENTIAL OF BAMBOO-BASED PANELS
AS CONTRUCTION MATERIALS
Recently, the price-rising of wood
and declining availability of wood
resources have turned people to
some other similar alternative.
Similar to wood, bamboo is a kind of natural organism,
which is strong, lightweight, renewable, and with a
strong adaptability to the environment. This plant is
widespread. The speed of its growth far exceeds that of
most growing trees, but its properties are superior to
most juvenile fast growing wood.
The best way to utilize bamboo on a large scale is to
design and produce a series of bamboo-based panels
with different structures and functions according to
the properties of bamboo.
Bamboo-based panels are products made from raw
bamboo through a series of mechanical and
chemical procedures, such as spraying glue, laying
up, and hot pressing. Bamboo-based panels are
relatively ideal prefabricated construction materials.
However, the application of bamboo-based panels
for this utilization is still very limited.
3.1 Different Types of Bamboo-based Panels
Used in Construction
At present, the main sorts of bamboo-based panels which
can be developed in the construction field are as follows.
Mat Plybamboo Laminated Bamboo of Strips
Plybamboo Bamboo Composite Board
3.1.1Mat Plybamboo. Mat plybamboo is a product
made of mats weaved with bamboo sliver, then
with the mats assembled and pressed after drying
In terms of the lightweight, flexibility, and good
impact resistance of this panel, it is a good
substitute for gypsum and asbestos to be used as
wall and roof materials in prefabricated
3.1.2 Curtain Plybamboo. Strips are arranged in
parallel order, connected with strings to be made into
curtains. After gluing and drying, curtains are to be
assembled and pressed into curtain plybamboo.
The thickness and width of strips can be adjusted
according to the requirements of end products. In
addition, Its consumption of adhesives is smaller
compared with mat plybamboo, but it has a better
dimension stability and better mechanical properties.
As a construction material, curtain plybamboo can be
used as wall, roof, and partition materials.
3.1.3 Laminated Bamboo of Strips. Strips are
glued and dried, then assembled and pressed into
laminated bamboo of strips. The strips are
arranged in parallel order, for this reason, the
lengthwise strength of this panel is high, but the
crosswise strength is relatively low.
Laminated bamboo of strips can be used as load
bearer, such as girder, pillar, door panel, banister,
and wall materials in prefabricated construction.
3.1.4 Plybamboo. Soften bamboo fragments under high
temperature, press and flatten them, then assemble
them in lengthwise and crosswise direction
alternately, and make into plybamboo by means of
gluing and hot pressing. Plybamboo is excellent
engineering material of great dimensions, high
strength, small deformation and stable form.
As construction material, plybamboo with good
properties can lessen the self weight considerably,
and be suitable as wall, roof and door panel
3.1.5Bamboo Particleboard. For the sake of improving
the availability ratio of bamboo resources, the
stems of small diameter and of less known species,
stem tops and all bamboo processing residues are
used to make bamboo particleboard. The
manufacturing process is designed similar to the
technology of wood particleboard .
The biggest advantage of this product is that the
supply of raw material for making bamboo
particleboard is abundant. It will be a good material
to replace wood based panel in prefabricated
construction, serving as wall panel, partition, and
3.1.6 Bamboo Composite Board. In order to improve
the product quality, increasing the resources of raw
materials, and decrease the producing cost, two or
more than two kind of materials are selected to make
composite boards, including bamboo-wood
composite, bamboo-cement composite, and bamboo-
gypsum composite, etc.
Bamboo composite contains merits of different raw
materials. Various bamboo composites can be utilized
as wall, partition, roof, and pillar materials, and it is a
promising materials in prefabricated construction.
3.2 Properties of Bamboo Based Panels
3.2.1 Mechanical Properties. The materials used in the
construction should be of sufficient mechanical
resistance, to be able to bear the stresses resulting
from self-weight, structural loads, snow, wind, and
walking-on if they are used as roofs. Bamboo-based
panels can bear more load and have higher value of
MOR than wood and common concrete. Bamboo
based panels, with the characteristic of high strength/
weight ratio, may be more suitable to be used in
multi-storey buildings, and it can also enhance the
resistance of lateral load.
Table1 Comparison of properties among some
Types of Materials
MOR (MP) MOE (MP)
15mm 113 10584
Bamboo Based Panels
25mm 126 9896
Common Timber 13-17 10000
Concrete(C25) 11.9 28000
3.2.2 Density. In the prefabrication process, the self-
weight of materials should be as small as possible
in order to allow easy assembly and delivery.
Bamboo based panels, similar to wood-based panels,
are relatively light construction materials. The
average density of bamboo based panel is about7.5
kg/m3, which is equivalent to 1/4 of that of concrete,
or1/3 of that of clay brick. It can lessen the weight
of buildings by about 30%.
3.2.3 Coefficient of Thermal Conductivity.
Compare with clay brick and concrete, bamboo-
based panels have a lower coefficient of thermal
conductivity. The average value is 0.640kJ/m h℃.
This property makes bamboo-based panels an ideal
material for heat insulation. it can reduce the energy
requirements for air-conditioning. As the shortage
of energy supply is intensifying, the energy-saving
function of panel materials is more and more valued.
3.2.4 Dimensional Stability. As their external using
properties, construction materials should have the
ability to withstand the stresses of shrinkage or
swelling due to the changes of temperature and
moisture. If we adopt the special hot-press technology,
waterproof adhesives and make best of the physical
properties of bamboo, bamboo-based panels will have
a better stability in shape and size compared with
concrete and clay bricks.
Table2 Coefficient of thermal expansion of various
Coefficient of Thermal Expansion
Types of Materials
Woody Materials 0.65×10-5
Polyvinyl Chloride 7.0×10-5
3.2.5 Sound Insulation. Bamboo-based panels can
meet the requirement of the sound insulation if
designed properly, since they are very good materials
to absorb sound waves and impacts. For example, to
meet the requirement of special function, the wall will
be designed to be a structure with two layers of
composite board, and the air layer in the middle. This
structure can improve the effect of sound insulation
dramatically, functioning better than that of clay-
3.2.6 Flame Retardancy. Compared with steel or clay
brick, bamboo-based panels have a poorer performance
on flame retardancy, but perform better than most other
synthetic materials such as Polystyrene and
Polyurethane. And once burnt, bamboo-based panels
will not release noxious chemicals as those synthetic
materials do. if inorganic gluing materials are adopted
(such as cement) as “adhesive”, the panels will exhibit
better ability of fire retardancy.
4. EXISTING PROBLEMS AND POSSIBLE
4.1 Enlargement of Raw Materials Supply
Despite the fact that bamboo has an extensive distribution
worldwide, the total amount of bamboo reserve is lower
than that of wood resources. Thus, the establishment of
bamboo plantations is strongly required in those places
suitable for the growth of this plant. At the same time,
bamboo-wood composite may be also a good solution to
solve this problem.
4.2 Development of Special Adhesives for Bamboo
Now, the adhesives for producing bamboo-based
panels are UF and PF, which are widely applied in
wood based panel production. However, since the
structure and chemical composition of bamboo have
some differences from that of wood, these adhesives
may be not so suitable for bamboo products. how to
develop new formulations or improve the existing
formulations of adhesives to make them more
environmental friendly and more appropriate for
bamboo-based panels are goals for researchers
4.3 Upgrading Undeveloped Producing Technology
At present, the companies and enterprises engaged in
the production of bamboo-based panels are usually
small-scale ones which apply few advanced
techniques. this will affect the quality of the end
bamboo products, increase the energy consumption
and decrease the efficiency of production. In addition,
panels serving as construction materials usually have
high values of thickness, but studies on the thick
panels about 50mm is far from enough. How to
improve the methods of processing and technologies
of hot press is becoming one of the major concerns of
companies and institutes.
Firstly, bamboo-based panels can be recycled as the raw
materials of particle board. Secondly, these wastes can
also be provided as raw materials of bamboo charcoal,
which is a good purifying agent, and also has a good
health-care function. Thirdly, bamboo is biomass,
which can be biodegrade in the natural condition. It can
also burned as fuel without generating SOx and NOx.
All these methods will greatly decrease the cost on
disposal of waste, and swing the balance between
economy and the recycling of materials, which is
perfectly consistent with the requirement of sustainable
4.5 Strategy and Standards Establishment on
Bamboo-based Panels Industry
Although the number of companies and enterprises engaged
in the production of bamboo-based panels is increasing,
many of them lack the far-sighted prediction of market
want. And a low-level management is commonly existing.
In addition, except for mechanical index, many other
indexes also need to be met, like corrosion resistance,
weather resistance and creep resistance etc. Thus the
establishment of long-term development strategies and the
improvement of existing standards for the industry of
bamboo-based panels are acutely needed. In addition, the
national macroscopic readjustment and government’s
instruction are also expected in the future.
Bamboo-based panels have similar properties to wood-
based panels. If bamboo-based panels can be well utilized
in the construction industry, they will contribute a lot to
the sustainable development of the prefabrication industry.
However, lots of popularization work needs to be done to
make bamboo-based panels better accepted by people all
over the world.
On the other hand, the development of bamboo-based
panels manufacturing can provide many job opportunities
for local people and increase the local fiscal income,
accelerating the development of local economy.