Accounting of the thread embedment in timber structures dowel-type joints. Load–slip relationship

Abstract

This work is devoted to the development of a calculation proposal for dowel-type joints in timber structures that takes into account the increase in load capacity due to the use of threaded dowels. While the method is based on acknowledged criteria of structural standards, it also considers the crushed areas that appear in the timber near the zone of contact with the dowel’s thread. Thereby, it comes closer to the actual mechanical behaviour of the whole joint when it suffers a relative displacement between its different parts under an external load. The equations proposed in this study to define the load capacity of the joint take into account the rope effect produced by the axial forces arising on the dowel due to the combined effect of bending of the dowel and compression of the timber fibres embedded in its thread. A comparison of the results of the new analytical method proposed with those of a battery of experimental tests is shown.