STRUCTURAL DESIGN FOR ARCHITECTURE

Timber structures

(a) (b)

(c)

Fig. 6.3 6 The three principal types of fastening com-

ponent which are used in timber engineering are nails,

screws and bolts.

Two types of fastening medium are used for

timber joints: mechanical fasteners (nails,

screws, bolts, etc. (Fig. 6.36)) and adhesives.

Additional jointing components such as gusset

plates of plywood or steel are also frequently

necessary and joints are normally designed so

that the fastening medium is loaded in shear.

A fairly wide choice of different possible

arrangements will usually be available for a

particular joint due to the range of fastening

components which are available and to the

possibility of placing elements either in a

single plane and joining them through gusset

plates, or making them overlap and joining

them directly together in lap-type joints. 211

Fig. 6.35 Lap-type joints. In each case the load is trans-
mitted between elements by shear in the fastening com-
ponents, which are either nails, screws or bolts.

components, can affect the feasibility of a
proposed structure and are therefore an im-
portant consideration in the early stages of a
design.