ABSTRACT
Abstract The prestressed timber joint is a novel development in structural timber research. The aim of this type of connection is to improve the strength, stiffuess and ductility of mechanical joints by means oflocal reinforcement with densified veneer wood (dvw) combined with a revolutionary new type of fastener able to prestress the joint. The investigation presented aims at verifying the behaviour of moment transmitting joints with model predictions based on elementary tests. Tests were carried out on portal frame corners of small and full size glued laminated timber beams. Results show that the behaviour of beam to column connections can be explained fully by characteristics of simple tests. Keywords: Timber connections, semi-rigid connections, densified veneer wood, prestressed timber joint, glue laminated timber.
