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Bamboo is a sustainable, functional and rapidly growing natural material with excellent potential in sustainable building and industrial applications. However, as a structural material, bamboo is hindered by its low mechanical strength and poor mildew resistance. In this study, a simple and sustainable process was developed to partially remove lignin and hemicellulose from bamboo through alkaline pretreatment, combined with thermal mechanical compaction, to convert natural bamboo into a lightweight, high-strength, mildew resistant, and durable multifunctional structural material. The results showed that the comprehensive control effectiveness of the alkaline dense bamboo against Aspergillus niger , Penicillium citricola and Trichoderma viridis was 96.2%, the anti-mildew performance was significantly improved. Compared with natural bamboo, the flexural, tensile, and compressive strength of alkaline dense bamboo increased by 6.9 times, 2.5 times, and 4.6 times, respectively, reaching 578 MPa, 410 MPa, and 145 MPa. Compared with some synthetic structural materials with excellent mechanical properties, the alkaline dense bamboo also exhibited superior specific tensile strength and Shore hardness. The multifunctional alkaline dense bamboo prepared in this study provides the possibility for bamboo resources to be widely used in the field of structural engineering. [Display omitted] • Alkali pretreatment combined with thermomechanical compaction to modify bamboo. • The comprehensive control effect of alkali dense bamboo increased from 0 to 96.2%. • The flexural, tensile and compressive properties of modified bamboo significantly improved. • The specific tensile strength of modified bamboo increased by 2.5 times to 415 MPa·cm−3·g−1. • Alkali dense bamboo exhibited excellent water resistance and dimensional stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The fracture toughness of G20Mn5QT calculated through traditional norm is 465.045 kJ / m 2. • The maximum value and the maximum increase of the AE parameters are unified in time. • The fracture toughness of G20Mn5QT evaluated by analyzing the AE parameters is 345.27 kJ / m 2. • The fracture toughness process of G20Mn5QT can be divided into 4 stages. • The fracture mode of G20Mn5QT belongs to the dimple-microporous aggregate fracture. The fracture toughness process of G20Mn5QT cast steel was monitored by using the Acoustic Emission (AE) technique. The fracture toughness value evaluated by analyzing the AE parameters (345.27 kJ / m 2) is smaller than that computed using traditional standards (465.05 kJ / m 2). The maximum values and increases of the AE parameters are unified in time. Via the synergistic analysis between the AE parameters and the mechanical parameters, the fracture toughness process of G20Mn5QT can be divided into four stages. Based on the macroscopic and microscopic analysis of the fracture, the fracture mode of G20Mn5QT exhibits the dimple-microporous aggregation fracture mode of ductile fracture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]