Component method in timber connections: End-plate compressing timber parallel to grain component strength

Abstract

The component method considers the whole joint as a set of individual basic components, dividing them into zones of tension, compression, and shear. The strength of end-plate and timber parallel to grain in compression may influence total resistance and failure mode of the joint. The objective of this work is to characterize the strength of the component corresponding to a glulam beam under compression by an end-plate in bending within an application in moment-resisting timber connections. For this, an experimental campaign was conducted through compression tests on 25 specimens composed of steel T-stubs with five different flange thicknesses and glulam GL24h. The results were compared to reference compression tests using a rigid plate. A decrease in the component resistance was observed with the reduction in the flange thickness. The failure of the component was governed by the T-stub, due to flange yielding, while the timber did not show characteristic failure. Based on the Eurocode 3 equivalent plate concept, an approach with variable stress distribution was proposed, it proved to be coherent with the experimental behavior of the component and with a possible application in design since the analytical values maintain an acceptable safety margin in relation to the experimental ones.