Production of a manual on testing methods for the use of bamboo in engineering applications

Tests on different properties of bamboo are being conducted in many laboratories in bamboo-growing countries. In the absence of standards that prescribe definite methods, the laboratory staff often has to improvise and innovate to find clever methods or tools. In many cases, such useful information stays inside the originating lab owing to lack of exchange of such knowIedge. To remedy this, a laboratory manual is proposed with the purpose of publishing testing methods being practiced in laboratories in different parts of the world. Such a publication will also form a practical "how-to-do" manual, explaining the steps involved in performing tests according to the "International Standard on Testing of Bamboo for the Determination of Mechanical Properties" (see this volume).