Investigation of the Behavior of Metal-Plate-Connected Wood Truss Joints. Abstract Approved:-

A commercially available, three-dimensional (3-D) finite-element (FE) analysis program was used to model metal-plate-connected (MPC) joints in wooden trusses. The model's features included consideration of material properties, teeth-to-grain-to-direction-of-force orientation, and wood-to-wood contact. Non-linear spring elements, placed on the wood surface between wood and plate, were used to represent wood-to-teeth interaction. Each tooth was represented as a single point consisting of three non-linear spring elements, accounting for wood-to-teeth stiffness behavior in each of the three major plate directions. The stiffness properties for the spring elements were assigned based on tensile joint tests at various teeth-to-grain orientations. Once incorporated in the model, the per-tooth stiffness need not be adjusted for different loading conditions applied later to the joint model. The load-displacement (L-D) results from the model and the experimental results from tensile and bending tests of splice joints with different teeth-to-grain orientations showed a good agreement. Simplified models where wood-to-teeth Signature redacted for privacy. Signature redacted for privacy