A general FE-model to predict capacity of a steel-timber dowel joint with complex loading

In this study, two methods for calculating the force distribution in steel-timber dowel connections subjected to a moment load was studied and compared to results from an experimental study. The first method was the traditional method for force distribution which assumes the timber and wood to act as rigid bodies while the fasteners are modelled linear elastic. The second model was an FE-model that included the stiffness of the wood and the steel plate but assumes the fasteners to act as rigid bodies. The two models resulted in differences in force distribution among the dowels and with the FE-model being slightly more conservative than the traditional method. The connections were also tested experimentally. The strain distribution was registered with the ARAMIS optical system during the experiment. The strain distributions from the FE-model and the experiments were very similar.