A State-of-art of Experimental Research and Calculated Models of Dowel-type Timber Connections in Fire

Abstract

Fire safety is one of the most significant issues for the design of mid-rise and high-rise timber structures. A large number of experimental tests were conducted during the last three decades to investigate the fire performance of the dowel-type timber connections. Many influenced parameters (e.g. the thickness of the side timber, the load ratio, the fasteners type etc.) were considered in those experiments. Relevant calculated models were proposed by previous researchers to estimate the fire resistance of the connections. In this study, a series of experimental programs of dowel-type connections in fire are collected. Then, empirical formulas proposed by EN 1995-1-2, Fire safety in timber buildings, and previous researchers are presented and analyzed. The accuracy of those formulas is checked by comparisons between the experimental data and estimated results. The collected experimental research and empirical formulas can be used as the reference for the fire design of dowel-type timber connections in the future.