This video shows the tension failure of a Class CL24 softwood timber member which has been bolted to two mild steel plates.

Learning Outcomes:

Viewers will gain an improved understanding of:

• Bolted timber-to-steel connections
• Brittle tension failure in timber
• Splitting failure in timber
• Shear failure in timber

The plates are pulled apart subjecting the timber to a tension force. The timber-to-steel connection has been designed to ensure that failure occurs in the timber without any yielding of the steel bolts. As expected the connection experiences a brittle failure in the timber. Splitting of the timber occurs around one of the bolts and a shear failure occurs at the other.

Structures expert, Doctor Christian Malaga-Chuquitaype of Imperial College, London narrates this video. Doctor Malaga-Chuquitaype is a Lecturer and Assistant Professor in the Structures Section at Imperial College’s Department of Civil Engineering.

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