Experimental investigation of secondary use of punched metal plate fasteners in timber structures

In this article, the possibility of secondary use of punched metal plate fasteners for timber structures is experimentally investigated. The secondary used metal plate fasteners are experimentally tested in both positions, parallel and perpendicular to the timber grain. For this purpose, the tension-to-tension test setup is used. Laboratory experiments of the secondary used metal plate fasteners are performed in parallel with the corresponding connection with the same size new metal plate fastener. All specimens for laboratory experiments are prefabricated at the factory. Laboratory experiments are done with an aim to investigate both, the reduction of the load bearing capacity and the stiffness, when metal plate fasteners are secondary used. In this article, the main design principles of joints with metal plate fasteners according to the Eurocode 5, are also discussed. The comparison between the strength and stiffness of the firstly and secondary used joints is provided. The comparison between the experimental and theoretical strength and stiffness calculation results according to the Eurocode 5 is provided too. The received results show high potential for the future research in secondary used punched metal fasteners, as the reduction of the strength and stiffness is around 20 percent, comparing with the first time used fasteners.