The effect of ages on the tensile mechanical properties of elementary fibers extracted from two sympodial bamboo species

Bamboo fibers are known for their outstanding mechanical properties and could be a potential replacement for synthetic fibers used in fiber-reinforced composites. In this paper, mechanical variation related to age for elementary fibers of two important sympodial bamboo species (Dendrocalamopsis oldhami and Dendrocalamus latiflorus Munro) was analyzed using a microtension technique. From the investigation of elementary fibers ranging from 1 to 6 years in age, our results showed the average tensile modulus of the two types of bamboo fibers ranged from 42.84 GPa to 44.29 GPa and 33.51 GPa to 37.35 GPa, whereas the tensile strength ranged from 1.50 GPa to 1.70 GPa and 1.34 GPa to 1.52 GPa, respectively. These values are significantly higher than equivalent properties found in most natural plant fibers. Furthermore, bamboo fibers were found to have nearly reached their optimal mechanical properties after just 1 year, with subsequent variations in older fibers proving statistically insignificant. This highlights the suitability of using young bamboo fibers as the reinforcing phase in polymer composites.