Does damage accumulate in timber joints loaded at load levels below 50% of the average short term strength?
conference paper
Joints govern the design of many types of timber structures. Knowledge about the long term strength is limited. The long term behaviour of joints in is not necessarily the same as for timber, although many design codes give the same load duration factors for timber and joints. This study is focussed on the long term behaviour of joints and especially the residual strength after being loaded for a certain time span. The residual strength of nailed, toothed-plate and split-ring joints is determined in standard short duration tests. The joints are preloaded for periods between two and eight years with load levels varying between 30% and 50% of the average short term strength. The results indicate that no damage accumulates during the preloading period and that 100% strength is still available after eight years. However, some specimens did not survive the preloading period, indicating that failures do occur at load levels as low as 50%. A damage line is derived based on time-to-failure results of toothed-plate and split-ring joints, indicating that only a very smalt strength locs is to be expected after 8 years of loading.
This damage line is in agreement with the test results
This damage line is in agreement with the test results
TNO Identifier
329189
Source title
International Wood Engineering Conference, New Orleans, USA
Pages
4-46 - 4-53
Files
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