Experimental study on thermal performance of bamboo scrimber at elevated temperatures

To understand the thermal performance of bamboo scrimber at elevated temperatures, its specific heat, density ratio and conductivity were measured using TGA-DSC and Hot Disk. With temperature increasing from 20 °C to 100 °C, the specific heat and conductivity of bamboo increase gradually. The density ratio decreases to about 0.25 at 500 °C and stays constant until 900 °C. The conductivity of bamboo scrimber parallel to grain is 1.26-1.63 times the conductivity perpendicular to grain. Due to the high density and content of phenolic resin, the conductivity of bamboo scrimber is higher than those of glued laminated timber and timbers in Eurocode 5 and the literature. Charring models of bamboo scrimber parallel to grain and perpendicular to grain exposed to one-sided fire were simulated and compared with experimental results. The relative difference in charring depth is less than 10%. A 3D finite element model of bamboo scrimber beams exposed to four-sided fire was established based on the measured thermal parameters. The results indicate that the measured specific heat, density ratio and conductivity of bamboo scrimber have good accuracy and are suitable for numerical simulation. Therefore, the reliable thermal parameter data can be used in fire resistance analysis.