Engineered Laminated Bamboo for Structural Applications: A Critical Review of Materials, Systems, and Design Challenges

Laminated bamboo (LB) has emerged as a promising sustainable structural material due to its rapid renewability, high strength-to-weight ratio, and favorable mechanical performance. Drawing on a comprehensive review of over 90 published experimental and analytical studies, this paper provides a critical synthesis of the structural behavior of LB, with emphasis on its compression, tension, flexure, shear, and creep responses. Reported mechanical properties exhibit variability, largely influenced by bamboo species, fiber orientation, processing methods, adhesives, lamination quality, and loading configuration. While LB demonstrates high tensile and flexural strengths comparable to or exceeding conventional timber products, pronounced anisotropy and brittle failure modes are consistently observed, particularly under shear and rolling shear loading. Recent studies on cross-laminated bamboo (CLB) highlight the significant role of interlaminar behavior and adhesive performance in controlling failure mechanisms, indicating that rolling shear capacities often govern the design of planar elements. Beyond mechanical behavior, this review synthesizes available research on thermal and fire performance. Emerging research on LB connections indicates that joint behavior often governs global structural performance, with strength and ductility strongly influenced by fastener type and embedment behavior. Key knowledge gaps are identified, underscoring the need for unified design frameworks to enable broader structural adoption of laminated bamboo systems.