joints as series of uniplanar connections for which design

planar joints as a series of uniplanar connections for which design guidelines are available. Each plane is therefore treated in isolation with no reference to the effect of (and load in) out-of-plane braces. Initial investigations, Vegte et al. (1991) and Paul et al. (1989a), on multiplanar joints have shown that, depending on the geometry and loading conditions, this may result in actual strengths which are significantly lower or higher than the ultimate strength for uniplanar joints.