Embedment behavior of dowel-type fasteners in birch plywood: Influence of load-to-face grain angle, test set-up, fastener diameter, and acetylation

Abstract

Birch plywood has superior mechanical properties compared with plywood made from most softwood species, which makes it suitable for structural application. Plywood is also more environmentally friendly, cost-efficient, and less prefabrication demanding than steel plates. For a proper design of birch plywood as joint plates in timber-timber connections, the embedment behavior of mechanical connectors into plywood needs to be properly investigated. In this study, the authors performed embedment tests of dowel connectors into birch plywood specimens under five different angles from parallel to perpendicular to the face grain with a step size of 22.5°. Dowel connectors with three different diameters were utilized to study the influence of dowel diameter on embedment strength and stiffness. Besides, test series using self-drilling screws and acetylated birch plywood specimens were conducted to study the effect of both fastener type and acetylation. Moreover, full-hole and half-hole test results were compared. The embedment strengths were calculated analytically according to different term definitions. The test results were then compared with the analytical results based on formulas reported in the literature, e.g., Eurocode 5 and other design standards.