Load Capacity of Row of Shear Late Connectors

Abstract

Based on 69 tests, recommendations are made for immediate revision o design standards and necessary additional research on timber connectors. he mean safety factor for four‐connector joints is alarmingly low at .88 for the first series of 34 specimens and increases to 1.21 for the 20 tests of he second series from a new shipment of billets. The mean safety factor for 5 three‐connector tests is 1.06. Tensile strengths perpendicular to the glueline re reported and compared with tests reported in 1975. The strength of the test aterial is about 1/3 to 1/2 of that expected. The low safety factors are attributed o a combination of the poor distribution of loads among connectors and he low perpendicular to glueline tensile strength. A finite element stress analysis n single connector joints is used to investigate the effect of varying end istances.