Dowel Type Connections in Laminated Bamboo with Multiple Slotted-In Steel Plates

Abstract

Laminated bamboo can be produced in sizes that are similar to glued laminated timber. Asaresult, large connections with multiple dowels and slotted-in steel plates are similarly possible with bamboo. MOSO bamboo was used in this study, withadensity of around 660 kg/m³, potentially creating connections having higher load carrying capacity than softwood. A large experimental campaign was set-up in order to determine the mechanical properties of connections with various ratios of dowel diameter to bamboo thicknesses and with single and double steel plates. Furthermore, influences of the density of the material, related to the embedding strength for fasteners, as well as the splitting sensitivity with multiple fasteners inarow are playing crucial roles with respect to the load carrying capacity. Therefore, multiple test series on large bamboo connections have been performed in order to study various possible failure modes, as dependent on embedding strength, steel grade, number of fasteners inarow, and the influence of multiple steel plates. The various failure modes have been analysed analytically with the Johansen equations, similar to the design equations proposed for the upcoming version of Eurocode 5 for multiple steel plate connections, confirming their applicability to bamboo and its similarity with wood.