Plywood‐Solid‐Wood Nailed Joints under Lateral Loading

Abstract

Data collected from tests on 240 nailed joints connecting Douglas‐fir plywood side members to solid‐sawn Douglas‐fir main members were analyzed with the intention of applying the European yield model (EYM) to predict joint behavior under lateral loading. All joints were of approximately similar geometry, with the EYM predicting a failure mode consisting of a single plastic hinge being formed in the nail within the thicker main member. The 5% offset and ultimate loads of the connection were parameters of greatest concern. In addition, a model to predict the embedding strength of solid wood was used to estimate the same parameter for plywood. The results showed that the joint plastic load predicted from the EYM was of a magnitude similar (within 6–28%) to the 5% offset load. The ultimate load was on average approximately 3.3 times the EYM plastic load. However, the high degree of variability found experimentally made deterministic predictions of joint behavior difficult. The study suggested that a model for wood embedding stress used in conjunction with the EYM can be a rational mechanism to estimate the 5% offset load for nailed joints in plywood‐solid‐wood connections.