End distance of single-shear screw connection in cross laminated timber

Abstract

Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is a relatively new engineered wood for timber construction. It is a great shear wall material. It was known that the shear performance of the CLT wall depends on the performance of connections. In connection, nail or screw has to be installed with a certain distance from the end of the timber. Current building code specifies the distance on the name of end distance. The end distance was decided as a minimum distance not to make splitting or tearing out in lumber or glued laminated timber. As a relatively new engineered wood, the end distance of CLT connection need to be identified because CLT is cross-wisely glued lumber products like plywood. Different from glued laminated timber or lumber, cross layer of CLT may prevent wood from splitting or tearing-out. As a result, the end distance of CLT was expected to be reduced than glued laminated timber. The shorter end distance may let more versatile connector design possible. In this study, prior to developing novel connection for CLT, the end distance of CLT connection was experimentally investigated to identify the end distance limitation. The experiments showed that the end distance can be reduced from 7D to 6D, in case of the tested CLT combination and screw in this study.