Analytical model for predicting brittle failures of bolted timber joints

A theoretical model is presented to calculate the stress distribution around a pin-loaded hole in a timber joint and to predict brittle failure modes in bolted connections. The analytical solution uses the stress functions expressed in terms of complex parameters, and it can be considered an application of Lekhnitskii's theory on stress distributions in anisotropic plates. The influence of the end distance and material properties on development of failure due to the splitting and shear-plug is shown for a dowel-type timber joint. Laboratory experiments on timber joints with 15.9-mm and 9.5-mm bolts loaded parallel to grain have shown good agreement with the model predictions.