International standard on properties of bamboo

One of the recommendations of the International Bamboo Congress and Workshop, held at Bali in 1995, was for INBAR to organize a task force to discuss and finalize a building code for bamboo. A task force constituted by INBAR in 1996 decided to prepare several documents, and one of these was to be on the determination of the mechanical properties of bamboo. The goal was to prepare an International Standard for the determination of mechanical and physical properties of bamboo in laboratory, as standardization of test methods was urgently needed so that tests on bamboo could be performed in similar ways across the world. The target group of this exercise was identified as laboratory staff, and the full name of the standard was to be the "International Standard on Testing of Bamboo for the Determination of Mechanical Properties" . The subjects covered by the draft standard include: compression, static bending, shear, tension, moisture content, mass per volume and shrinkage. After discussion and approval the finalized document will be submitted to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).