Structural behavior of timber-to-timber connections made of fast-growth pine and hardwood dowels

Abstract

Wooden dowels are being considered as an alternative to metallic fasteners, and to adhesives for laminated timber products such as dowel laminated timber (DLT). Knowledge of the mechanical behaviour of timber-to-timber connections is crucial to design and predict the overall DLT performance. In this paper the moment capacity of 20 mm diameter dowels from two hardwood species was first assessed, followed by the estimation of the shear capacity and slip modulus of connections made of fast-growing pine wood and hardwood dowels. Results from shear tests were used as input for an analytical model to predict the load bearing capacity of the connections subjected to bending. Four-point bending tests on specimens made of three timber boards fastened with dowels were performed and used to validate the model.