Compressive Deformation and the Failure of Functionally Graded Bamboo Structures: Implications for Bioinspired Design

This article presents concepts for the design of bioinspired bamboo structures. The knowledge of deformation and failure mechanisms in bamboo structures is used to provide insights that can guide the design of bamboo structures that are subjected to compressive loading. The article is divided into six sections. An overview of the understanding of the compressive failure of bamboo is presented in the introduction. Following the introduction, the underlying theory is presented. This is followed by a description of Materials characterization and mechanical testing. The microstructure and deformation failure mechanisms of bamboo are then presented before discussing the implications of the results for the bioinspired designs of structures.