Advances in moment transfering dvw reinforced timber connections – Analysis and experimental verification, Part 1

•Rotational stiffness of two closely spaced connections (a compound connection) is the same as a single connection.•Application in column-beam and splice connections opens new design frontiers in structural timber design.•This reinforced timber connection behaves isotropic, i.e. no angle to grain dependency.

Considerable advances in the moment transferring capacity of timber connections are achieved by using densified veneer wood reinforcement and expanded tube fasteners. This study focuses on the rotational stiffness of two dvw reinforced connections joined in series by a steel plate in a splice and column-beam type of connection. The study proves that, when certain conditions are fulfilled, two connections in series have the same rotational stiffness as one while the bending moment capacity increases. The analysis and test results are in excellent agreement and confirm the isotropic properties of this connection type.