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A Chinese research team has studied the bending performance of thin-plate glued laminated bamboo, or glubam, for use in floating photovoltaic platforms. The investigation centered on bolted three-layer thin-plate glubam assemblies designed for floating PV structures and subjected them to monotonic loading.
The researchers observed that glubam systems hold encouraging promise for floating photovoltaic platforms owing to a high strength-to-weight ratio, a small carbon footprint, and a favorable balance between flexibility and bending stiffness. Their work aimed to examine the flexural behavior of bolted three-layer thin-plate glubam assemblies for such structures.
Four-point bending tests were paired with numerical simulations and parametric analyses, and mechanics-based models for bending stiffness and ultimate capacity were also created. In the experimental phase, six glubam configurations were constructed, and two specimens were tested for each one.
Every specimen was 200 mm wide and contained continuous upper and lower plates measuring 2,000 mm, a segmented middle plate of 15 mm, a lower plate of 10 mm, and M10 bolts. By combining two upper-plate thicknesses, 20 mm and 25 mm, with three middle-layer layouts, namely 1,200 plus 1,200 mm, 600 plus 600 plus 600 mm, and 600 plus 600 plus 600 plus 600 mm, the six configurations were produced.
During the four-point bending tests, the specimens were placed on supports 1,500 mm apart, while loads were applied at two points separated by 700 mm. Load, midspan deflection, and plate strain were recorded as the specimens neared their peak loads. ABAQUS models of the six configurations were then built, and predicted stiffness and peak loads were compared against the experimental results. Those models were later employed to evaluate the influence of bolt diameter, bolt spacing, and plate thickness on load-bearing capacity.
According to the researchers, flexural failure of the assemblies was controlled by rolling shear of the middle layer, followed by cracking of the upper plate. Within the investigated range, flexural stiffness displayed limited sensitivity to middle-layer segment length and configuration, whereas ultimate capacity hinged on whether a middle-layer discontinuity was situated within the shear span.
Compared with the 1,200 plus 1,200 mm layout, the 600 plus 600 plus 600 plus 600 mm configuration lowered ultimate load capacity by 10.00% when the upper plate was 25 mm and by 28.22% when it was 20 mm. For the 600 plus 600 plus 600 mm configuration, the corresponding reductions were only 6.22% and 2.49%, respectively.
The parametric analysis revealed that raising bolt diameter from 10 mm to 12 mm enhanced ultimate moment capacity by 8.43% to 12.11%, although the gain became smaller at larger diameters. Cutting bolt spacing from 200 mm to 100 mm proved more effective, boosting capacity by 40.39%, as long as minimum spacing and edge-distance requirements were satisfied.
The researchers further reported that raising upper-plate thickness from 15 mm to 20 mm lifted capacity by 20.54%, while a further increase from 25 mm to 30 mm added only 3.19%. With total thickness held constant, assigning more thickness to the face plates, especially the lower plate, yielded a larger gain in ultimate capacity than assigning it to the middle plate.
The study, titled Flexural behavior of three-layer thin-plate glubam assemblies for floating photovoltaic platforms, appeared in Structures. Contributors to the work came from Hebei University of Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin University of Technology, and Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
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