Early experimental investigations on slotted-in steel plate connections with self-perforating dowels in CLT

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to provide a better understanding of the behaviour of self-perforating dowels made of high-strength steel in CLT. The strength and stiffness of the connection is experimentally investigated and discussed, as are the influencing parameters. The results show the influence of the rope effect and drill tip on the load-carrying capacity of a connection with threaded dowels. Embedment tests revealed the analytical equations for embedment strength may overestimate results by up to 20%. In contrast, the analytical formula for the fastener’s yield moment may underestimate the real value up to 30% for high-strength steel dowels.