A study on the design of bamboo grinding machine

Abstract

Bamboo is a sustainable and environmentally friendly material that has the potential to improve the global decline of natural resources. Bamboo is one of the popular flora in Southeast Asia; it is also traditional plants that grow abundantly in Vietnamese villages from north to south. Its ability can replace some kinds of wood in decoration and household goods. Bamboo grows up rapidly and can be harvested within 3 to 5 years of planting, in the meanwhile, the harvesting time of other hardwood trees must be from 8 to 10 years or longer. The inherent characteristics of bamboo are lighter than other wood materials and have a value in social and environmental benefits. Its advances in manufacturing technology have created high-value products such as bamboo flooring and bamboo furniture that can substitute for wood flooring and wood furniture. According to the biology studies, the bamboo has the characteristics that can replace the natural wood, but the direction of development from the stage of cultivation to the stage of finished products has not been exploited thoroughly. The production of bamboo plywood will become a great potential for the bamboo plywood industry in Vietnam. Generally, the fabrication of bamboo plywood depends on the following processes such as cutting, grinding to powder or pulp, drying, and pressing processes. In cutting and grinding processes, the trivial remains of bamboo after use, shoots… can be chopped and ground to a powder that is dried and pressed into bamboo plywood by a specialized machine similar to the production of artificial wood particleboard (PB). The aim of this paper is a representation of a design, computing the structure of a version of a bamboo grinding machine that is sustainable, responds to technical requirements, and protection of the environment. The result of the design was applied for manufacture a typical bamboo machine in the CAD-CAM workshop of DCSELAB in the framework of a project between DCSELAB and PhuAn Village Corporation that has evaluated with satisfaction the real proof of the design. The machine has been in the session of initial testing and exploitation.