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Industry 5.0 manufacturing requires a highlighted emphasis on resilience, sustainability, and human-centricity. Circular bioeconomy could play an important role in practicing Industry 5.0 through using natural materials and minimizing the waste. Mass production with natural materials focuses on utilizing materials of standard geometry, resulting in under-utilized non-standard materials. To facilitate the transition to Industry 5.0 and practicing circular bioeconomy, this study proposes a framework to utilize non-standard natural materials for mass customization using an integrated computational design – digital fabrication methodology. The proposed framework offers opportunities for waste reduction, sustainability in production, and human-centric design for customized manufacturing. Two case study projects were discussed to further explain the framework, followed by the challenges of the proposed integrated approach and the direction for future studies.

The continued need to decarbonize buildings has led to a deeper exploration of the use of bamboo culms in building systems. For the design and use of full culm bamboo structures, the bending strength perpendicular-to-fibre has received little comprehensive study along the length of commercially produced bamboo poles. We intensively measured the bending strength perpendicular-to-the-fibre for both node and internode sections along the length of commercially purchased Tre Gai (Bambusa spinosa) culms. Eight culms, each four meters long, were sectioned to measure the bending strength terms including tension and compression strengths in both the N-S (top/bottom) and E/W (left/right) directions using ISO 22157 procedures. Digital scanning was used to measure the inner and outer diameter of each section. Node strength was approximately 2.64 times greater than the internode strength. The performances of perpendicular-to-fibre strength terms were related to the primary tissue strength rather than the bamboo fibre strength within the culm. Based upon observations and measurements, the fmT,NS and fmC,EW strengths had greater values with lower variability, and were less sensitive to changes in length. Implications of perpendicular-to-fibre strength design in building elements are discussed.

With bamboo’s rapid renewability, short rotation period, versatility, and good mechanical properties, engineered bamboo composites have undergone significant evolution. This paper examines the recent changes in bamboo product manufacturing, starting with a wholistic classification of culm breakdown to the plethora of different constituent elements: full culm, flattened bamboo, bamboo bundles, splits/strips, mats/curtains, and strands. Highly cracked flattened strips used in bamboo scrimber are 4–5 times greater in specific surface area than crack-free strips, requiring an estimated 6–10 times higher resin consumption than laminated bamboo. Based on their structure, bamboo composites can be classified into three categories: 1) lamination of minimally modified culms, 2) laminated mat structures with controlled or semi-random placement of constituent elements and 3) random mat structures composed of thin bamboo strands. Composite formation is transitioning from random placement of large, thick strips to more controlled layup with secondary elements of stitched strip curtains, helping minimize edge-to-edge strip overlaps and improve bonding efficiency with less mat compaction. Density-structure-strength property relationships are also compared between various engineered bamboo and common engineered wood products. Other technical advancements include crack-free flattened bamboo and hybrid bamboo-wood products.