| dc.description.abstract | A well adopted timber-to-timber connection type in Scandinavia is the one with slotted-in steel plates and steel fasteners. The following study investigated the possibility of adopting this type of connection, substituting steel components with wood. The fact that pure wood connections have a lower environmental impact contrary to one that utilizes steel for the plates and fasteners, presents no novelty. Not only could it lower the submission of greenhouse gases as it could lower the production of steel, but it could also positively affect the cost, weight, and esthetics of a structure. An additional advantage linked to wood is better fire resistance abilities compared to steel.
In this study experimental investigations of pure wood connections were conducted by substituting the steel plates and fasteners with gusset plates of birch plywood and laminated densified wood dowels. Previous studies have investigated laminated densified wood, which proved that the material possesses impressive capacities. This study aimed to evaluate whether laminated densified wood had potential as a fastener in a timber-to-timber multiple shear connection. For the sake of comparison, two additional test groups were made, one with steel screws, and one with birch dowels. A tensile load was applied to the connections, and the load-deformation behavior was recorded. Additionally, analytical models for calculating the total capacity of multiple shear connections were presented. The calculated results according to these models were compared to the experimental results.
The research found that laminated densified wood posed as a promising material for wood dowels in terms of its impressive strength. Laminated densified wood dowels showed comparable strengths to steel screws, and higher strengths than birch dowels. Comparison between the results from the analytical calculations and the experiments showed reasonable utilization ratios, but also room for further optimizations of the models. | |
