Structural Connections for Small-Diameter Poles
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 139, Issue 11
Abstract
In Portugal, given the large proportions of natural regeneration pine stands, a large amount of young trees must be removed from the forest, to assure the quality of mature trees and to decrease the risk of fire. With this problem in mind, a national study was launched to investigate the use of maritime pine small-diameter poles in structural applications. The study had two different tasks. The first task comprised the determination of mechanical properties and the establishment of visual and mechanical strength grading procedures and is already completed. The second task concerns the development of connections. This paper presents results within the second task. Three types of connections, regarding failure load and stiffness, were studied: connections using central plates; glued-in rods; and dowel nuts. The glued-in rods showed the highest mean failure load and, especially, stiffness. Indeed, the glued-in rods showed a mean stiffness around six times higher than the one obtained for the other studied connections. Additionally, the applicability of European Yield Model to estimate the failure load of these connections is also discussed.
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Acknowledgments
This study has been supported by Fundaçãopara a Ciência e Tecnologia, with the scholarship SFRH/BD/44909/2008, and by QREN, with funds from Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER), under the Programa Operacional de Factores de Competitividade, with the research project PTDC/ECM/099833/2008.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 139 • Issue 11 • November 2013
Pages: 2003 - 2009
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 16, 2012
Accepted: Sep 27, 2012
Published online: Sep 29, 2012
Published in print: Nov 1, 2013
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