Sustainable Design of a Composite Material: Slab Reinforced with Engineered Full Culm Bamboo

Bamboo has gained increasing attention as a renewable and environmentally sustainable construction material because of its high strength-to-weight ratio, rapid growth, and local availability. This study evaluated the feasibility of using engineered full-culm bamboo as permanent formwork and reinforcement in reinforced concrete slab systems. An experimental research design was employed using three locally available bamboo species: Bambusa blumeana, Bambusa vulgaris, and Bambusa merrilliana. The culms were treated with a borax-boric acid solution before fabrication and testing. Physical properties, including density and moisture content, and mechanical properties, including compressive, flexural, tensile, and shear strengths, were determined following applicable ASTM and ISO standards. The reinforced slab specimens were further assessed for compressive and flexural performance, cost efficiency, availability index, and waste generation ratio. Results showed that borax-boric acid treatment enhanced the mechanical properties of the bamboo species. Bambusa blumeana demonstrated superior density, moisture resistance, and flexural performance, while Bambusa merrilliana exhibited the highest compressive strength, availability index, and overall strength-to-weight ratio. Although the engineered bamboo-reinforced slabs did not achieve the performance of conventional steel-reinforced slabs, they exhibited sufficient structural capacity for selected low-load applications. The findings demonstrate that engineered full-culm bamboo is a technically feasible, cost-effective, and environmentally sustainable alternative for permanent formwork and ceiling slab systems, particularly in bamboo-rich regions.