Abstract:

Results from the measurements of vascular bundle density and fiber coverage, and the tests of density, moisture content, shrinkage, tangential bending strength and longitudinal compressive strength showed that the textures and physical and mechanical properties of four typical thick-growing structural bamboos in Yunnan, Dendroncalamus giganteus, D.brandisii, D.membranaceus and Bambusa lapidea, are quite different from not only among the species but also the positions within a bamboo pole along the radial, tangential and longitudinal directions.Compared with the vascular bundle density, the fiber coverage should be more appropriate to reflect the relationships between the textures and the physical and mechanical properties of the bamboos.It was found that the relationships between the fiber coverage and density, tangential bending streng thand longitudinal compressive streng thare direct, but the relationship between the fiber coverage and the full moisture content is inverse.

Key words: Bamboo, Texture, Vascular bundle density, Fiber coverage, Physical properties, Mechanical properties