SUITABLE BAMBOO STRIPS REINFORCEMENT RATIO FOR CONCRETE SLABS

Steel is a non renewable and environmentally unsustainable construction material. The search ofrenewable and environmentally sustainable material for flexural reinforcement of concrete hadbeen the focus of many researchers. The use of Bamboo strip at flexural reinforcement for concreteslabs was considered in this paper. The effective performance of the Bamboos strips as tensionreinforcement in concrete slab was assessed. The flexural capacities of Bamboo reinforced andplain concrete slabs were compared. The ultimate load of the slab reinforced with Bamboo stripswas found to be almost seven times the ultimate load for the plain concrete slab. The ultimateflexural strength of the slab was achieved at 3% bamboo reinforcement. Therefore, Bamboo stripsare suitable for use as tension reinforcement in concrete slab with reinforcement ratio not greaterthan 3%.