High performance jointing systems for timber

In current timber design, member sizes are often determined by the need to have an adequate section size for jointing. The use of high performance jointing systems has the potential to achieve substantial reductions in the volume of timber used in conventional structures such as roof trusses. In this programme four different jointing systems which are suitable for large timber sections have been tested: Standard black bolts, Split ring/shear plates, resin bonded steel dowels and butt joints with uni-axial glass reinforcement. The results have shown that the shear plates and the glass-reinforced joints offered the best performance. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.