Fabrication of Crack-Free Flattened Bamboo and Its Macro-/MicroMorphological and Mechanical Properties

This work aimed to help the bamboo industry develop methodology for producing imperfection-free bamboo boards that can serve either decorative or structural benefit to consumers seeking to engage with the bioeconomy.Specifically,softened and slotted bamboo tubes were handled by a roller device with nails to render crack-free flattened bamboo board.Softening temperature and time were optimized herein according to findings regarding chemical composition and board mechanical properties.The optimal softening parameters for saturated steam heat treatment is proved to be 160°C for 8 min.The flattened bamboo board possesses an increased bending strength of 101.5 MPa and a decreased bending modulus of 7.7 GPa,being compared with only-softened bamboo.The corresponding changing mechanism is determined in-depth by the micro-morphological and mechanical results based on in-situ SEM and AFM technologies.Under the action of nails and rolling processes,the bamboo texture becomes compact with crushed and fragmented conduit walls.The resulting cell cavity then becomes stretched and compressed,taking on a morphology which allows for the mechanical penalties associated with flattening to be avoided.According to the micro-mechanical results obtained by AFM,compared with unflatten bamboo,the Young’s modulus of the cell membrane in transverse direction(YT)decreases to 1.00 GPa while the corresponding Young’s modulus in radial direction(YR)increases to 7.29 GPa.

Study on the Effect of Two-Step Saturated Steam Heat Treatment Process on the Properties of Reconstituted Bamboo

With the aim of utilizing reconstituted bamboo as a carbon cycle oriented material,the improvement of physical and mechanical properties has been actively studied to solve using problems The saturated steam heat treatment process has been widely used in worldwide.With the development and exploration of this technology,two step satu-rated steam heat treatment process appears in some practical production,that is,affer a period of saturated steam heat treatment at a lower temperature,the bamboo bundles are taken out and seasoned for a period of time,and then put back into the heat tank again,and heated at a higher temperature for another period of time.During the two-step saturated steam heat treatment,the physical and mechanical properties of bamboo changed.However,the mechanism of two step saturated steam heat treatment has not been thoroughly discussed.For purpose that this paper all discuss and find out the mechanism of two step saturated steam heat treatment on the change of physical and mechanical properties of reconstituted bamboo.In this work,the one and two step saturated steam heat treat-ments were carried out according to the actual production parameters,and the physical and mechanical properties of the reconstituted bamboo board made of treated bamboo bundles were analyzed,including the color change,the thickness swelling(TS),modulus of elasticity(MOE),modulus of rupture(MOR)and shear strength.The results indicate that two-step saturated steam heat treatment is better than one step.Based on the detailed study of the chemical composition,crytalinity and micro morphologial characteristics of the heated bamboo bundles,it is further revealed that during two-step saturated steam heat treatment,oxygen air is added to the reaction system between the two heat treatment processes to further catalyze the oxidation of hemicellulose and enhance the crystal-linity of cellulose,so as to improve the properties of the final products.Our work has optimized the saturated steam heat treatment process which is widely used in industry,pointing out a new idea in the experimental and theoretical basis for the development of recombinant bamboo manufacturing industry.