Abstract:
This paper presents a research work undertaken, whose main purpose was the development and validation of an innovative connection system for round wood members. The connection proposed is based on axially glued-in rods. A preliminary research was undertaken in order to assess the properties of the glued-in rods using different gluing lengths, steel grades and timber densities. Based on these results three connection configurations were defined aiming the optimization of the connection load carrying capacity. These configurations were afterwards tested in laboratory to assess their mechanical performance. The results obtained showed that the proposed connection leads to high performance, either in terms of load carrying capacity or stiffness if appropriate connection configurations are used.
