In favor of the investigation of bond behaviour, force transfer and anchorage length of self-tapping screws, several tests have been realized at the Chair of Structures and Structural Design in cooperation with the Institute for Building Material Research of the RWTH Aachen University. The experimental investigations comprise more than 160 pull-out tests of screws with long embedment length and over 84 load distributions tests. Additionally, several tests displaying the effect of longitudinal cracks in the surrounding wood as well as the effect of the screw tip have been conducted. Through various analyses of the bond behaviour, the experimental investigations form the basis for the calibration and evaluation of the numerical models and allow a prediction of the force transfer of the screws in glue-laminated elements. Design rules that enable the application of the self-tapping screws as reinforcement in timber elements have been derived from the knowledge obtained in the experimental and numerical investigations. This paper, which results from a research project funded by the German Research Foundation [1], presents the results of investigations on the bond behavior of self-tapping screws in glue-laminated timber elements. Part 1 elaborates on the experimental investigations [2] whereas part 2 illustrates the numerical analyses and presents a bond model, which enables the design of the anchorage length and the safe application of the screws as reinforcement in timber elements.
