Structural Characteristic of Bamboo and Rattan Cane Reinforced Concrete Struts

Corrosion in steel reinforced concrete structures has prompted researchers to work on alternative material to steel that are resistance to corrosion. This paper looked at the use of bamboo and rattan cane as alternative materials to steel in reinforced concrete struts. Fifteen (15) short concrete struts of dimension 150 mm × 150 mm × 300 mm were designed for a 50 KN load. The samples were subjected to axial load. The results after crushing showed that all the struts failed in the same manner with average compressive strength of bamboo and rattan reinforced struts being 78.18% and 63.48% that of steel reinforced struts respectively. Average crack width generated in bamboo reinforced struts was about 16.30% lower than steel, while rattan reinforced struts was 58.90% greater than that of steel. This paper concluded that bamboo and rattan cane can be effectively used as reinforcement in struts of low load bearing structures.