Contact joints in engineered wood products

Cross laminated timber (CLT) members are especially suited for in-plane loads due to their high shear strength and stiffness. However, available connection techniques show limited load-carrying capacities and stiffness values in comparison to the shear capacity of CLT. To use the potential of CLT under in-plane loading, new connection techniques, so called contact joints, with increased stiffness and load-carrying capacities were developed. 10 different types of these contact joints, varying geometry and connector material, were studied. The developed contact joints can substitute traditional connection techniques.