Cyclic behavior of the components of a dowel-type assembly - variability

Among the rod-type assemblies, the dowel-type assembly allows connections with smooth rods with a metal plate fitting inserted into the wood. This type of assembly transfers forces between wood members by shearing the dowels. Energy dissipation is possible due to the yielding of dowels and the wood in contact with the dowel. Due to the heterogeneity of the materials, the behavior of such an assembly has a significant variability, which increases the difficulty to characterize key parameters. In this study, the assembly is divided into its components; each component is tested under a cyclic loading with four increasing amplitudes. Samples are tested with compressive loads parallel or perpendicular to the grain of the wood. The envelope curve of the force-displacement responses shows higher variability of tests including wood. The energy dissipation is obtained per loading amplitude, showing the linear behavior of the dowel before yielding and a nonlinear behavior for all the other components. The results obtained in this study show the need for a statistical approach to model the behavior of the assembly, with consideration for the contribution of each component.