Experimental and theoretical study on mechanical performance of dowel joints with inserted steel plates constructed of laminated bamboo lumber

Laminated bamboo lumber (LBL) is a promising material in engineering structures due to its excellent mechanical properties and eco-friendly characteristic. LBL joints comprised of dowel -type fasteners and inserted steel plates are introduced to study the mechanical performance based on the ASTM-D5652-15. A total of 39 joints in 13 groups were carried out to investigate the effects of dowel diameter, thickness of specimens, spacing in a row and dowel number on the stiffness and strength of the joints. Three typical yield modes of the dowels were observed, which accorded with Johansen yield theory. The theoretical results of bearing capacity calculated by rigid-plastic model and elastic-plastic model were larger than experimental results, and the dif-ference in both models was in the range of 9.1%-11.33%. By introducing the calibration coef-ficient and effective dowel number, the calculation method of bearing capacity was provided and proven to conform well to the experimental results. It can provide the reference to calculate bearing capacity of with inserted steel plates constructed of laminated bamboo lumber.