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Structural Fire Performance of Wood-Steel-Wood Bolted Connections with

and without Perpendicular-to-Wood Grain Reinforcement

Article in Journal of Structural Fire Engineering · September 2019

DOI: 10.1108/JSFE-02-2019-0016

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Structural fire performance of Wood-steel-

wood bolted
wood-steel-wood bolted connections

connections with and without

perpendicular-to-wood
grain reinforcement Received 21 February 2019
Revised 3 August 2019
Accepted 4 September 2019
Adam Roman Petrycki and Osama (Sam) Salem
Department of Civil Engineering, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Canada

Abstract
Purpose – In fire condition, the time to failure of a timber connection is mainly reliant on the wood charring
rate, the strength of the residual wood section, and the limiting temperature of the steel connectors involved in
the connection. The purpose of this study is to experimentally investigate the effects of loaded bolt end
distance, number of bolt rows, and the existence of perpendicular-to-wood grain reinforcement on the
structural fire behavior of semi-rigid glued-laminated timber (glulam) beam-to-column connections that used
steel bolts and concealed steel plate connectors.
Design/methodology/approach – In total, 16 beam-to-column connections, which were fabricated in
wood-steel-wood bolted connection configurations, in eight large-scale sub-frame test assemblies were
exposed to elevated temperatures that followed CAN/ULC-S101 standard time-temperature curve, while being
subjected to monotonic loading. The beam-to-column connections of four of the eight test assemblies were
reinforced perpendicular to the wood grain using self-tapping screws (STS). Fire tests were terminated upon
achieving the failure criterion, which predominantly was dependent on the connection’s maximum allowed
rotation.
Findings – Experimental results revealed that increasing the number of bolt rows from two to three, each of
two bolts, increased the connection’s time to failure by a greater time increment than that achieved by
increasing the bolt end distance from four- to five-times the bolt diameter. Also, the use of STS reinforcement
increased the connection’s time to failure by greater time increments than those achieved by increasing the
number of bolt rows or the bolt end distance.
Originality/value – The invaluable experimental data obtained from this study can be effectively used to
provide insight and better understanding on how mass-timber glulam bolted connections can behave in fire
condition. This can also help in further improving the existing design guidelines for mass-timber structures.
Currently, beam-to-column wood connections are designed mainly as axially loaded connections with no
guidelines available for determining the fire resistance of timber connections exerting any degree of moment-
resisting capability.
Keywords Wood-steel-wood bolted connections, Brittle failure modes,
Glued-laminated timber (glulam), Self-tapping screws reinforcement, Time to failure in fire
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
Glued-laminated timber (glulam) structural members are manufactured from smaller
dimensioned lumber sections that are glued together to form a final product with a greater
length and larger cross section than that of its individual laminations. When designing Journal of Structural Fire
Engineering
wood members for fire resistance, this manufacturing process is advantageous as the final © Emerald Publishing Limited
2040-2317
product has two important qualities as follows: the final glulam section has more desirable DOI 10.1108/JSFE-02-2019-0016
JSFE mechanical properties than the smaller dimensioned lumber sections, and the overall section
size can be increased using additional laminations to achieve a desired fire-resistance rating.
Recently, an increased interest in the application of glulam as a primary building material
has been seen in the Canadian construction market. This noticeable interest was mainly
because of the recent amendments to the National Building Code of Canada (NBCC, 2015)
that allowed wood to be used as the primary construction material for mid-rise buildings up
to six storeys. As glulam structural components can be manufactured to almost any desired
large cross section, length or even curvature, it became possible to design and manufacture
heavy-timber members that can sustain considerable loads at both, ambient and elevated
temperatures. In fact, these characteristics have broadened the scope for more applications
of larger glulam structural systems. Despite the recent amendments in NBCC 2015, current
technical design documentation in Canada are lacking guidelines for designing timber frame
connections for fire resistance. This is, in particular, true in the context of connections that
are expected to exhibit certain degree of moment resistance or undergo considerable
rotations as part of the structural framework of taller wood buildings undergoing increased
lateral loading because of wind forces and/or earthquakes. One of the greatest concerns for
the design of taller wood buildings is their structural performance in fire. While prescriptive
guidelines for fire resistance design are currently available in Canada, the general trend has
seen a shift to follow performance-based design approach for structural fire design
(Hadjisophocleous and Benichou, 1999). This trend has been supported by a global effort
that has seen extensive testing of construction materials, structural assemblies, and even
entire structures, however, most of the studies of larger structural assemblies and entire
frameworks have focused on steel and concrete materials, not glulam or other wood
structural products. There is a demanding need to address this concern as the majority of
the available literature has mainly focused on the behavior of axially loaded connections
subjected to elevated temperatures (Racher et al., 2010). Such connections were subjected to
either tensile or compressive axial loading that was applied parallel to wood grain (Peng
et al., 2010) or perpendicular to wood grain (Audebert et al., 2012). These referenced studies
showed that heavy-timber connections exposed to elevated temperatures would experience
brittle failure, such as hole elongation, splitting and row shear out or crushing; and may also
undergo yielding in their steel components because of reduced mechanical properties at
elevated temperatures. It also has been shown that concealed steel components such as steel
plates, in wood-steel-wood (WSW) connections benefitted from being insulated by wood side
sections from the effects of fire. In addition, thermo-hydric phenomenon helps water vapors
to escape from wood section and condense on the steel components, delaying the moment at
which the steel reaches a temperature above 100°C (Samaké et al., 2014).
While the fire performance of glulam beams reinforced with fiber reinforced polymer (FRP)
products has been investigated (Martin and Tingley, 2000), such studies neither investigate
the possibility of using FRP to enhance the fire resistance of glulam beams nor the effect of
FRP reinforcement on increasing the moment resisting of glulam connections exposed to fire.
Current options for improving the fire resistance of timber sections are: chemical treatments
that unfortunately, can result in reduction of the wood mechanical properties at both, normal
and elevated temperatures (LeVan and Winandy, 2007) and the addition of boards (e.g.
plywood or gypsum plasterboards) to delay the ignition time of wood components.
Presented in this paper are the results of an experimental study that evaluated the time to
failure in fire and failure modes of bolted beam-to-column WSW glulam connections with and
without SWG ASSY® VG Plus self-tapping wood screws used as perpendicular-to-wood grain
reinforcement. Experimental program consisted of 16 large-scale connections that were
exposed to CAN/ULC-S101 standard fire while being loaded to 100 per cent of the ultimate
design load of the weakest connection configuration. Test variables investigated were bolt end Wood-steel-
distance, number of bolts and existence of perpendicular-to-wood grain reinforcement. Each wood bolted
test assembly consisted of two glulam beam sections that were connected to an inversely
loaded glulam column via two concealed steel T-stub connectors, creating a semi-rigid
connections
connection on each side of the column. The beam-to-column connections of four of the eight test
assemblies were reinforced perpendicular to the wood grain with self-tapping screws (STS).

2. Experimental program
In total, 18 beam-to-column glulam connection test specimens, representing four different
connection configurations with and without perpendicular-to-wood grain reinforcement,
were tested. All test assemblies were loaded with a monotonic load representing the
maximum design capacity of the weakest connection configuration, calculated based on
previously documented failure modes of respective connection configurations loaded to
failure at ambient temperatures (Salem and Petrycki, 2016). In this referenced study, it was
observed that all examined beam-to-column glulam connections experienced an initial drop
in their moment-resisting capacities when the wood in contact with the bottom row of bolts
subjected to tensile stresses experienced row shear out. Accordingly, all connections
presented in this paper were subjected to a load equivalent to 100 per cent of the ultimate
design load of the weakest connection configuration of the four tested configurations. This
load magnitude equals the connection’s row shear out design capacity determined by Cl.
10.4.4.4, equations 2-4, from CSA-O86-14, and was maintained on the test assemblies
throughout the duration of the fire tests until each assembly met the specified failure
criterion of the connections. Connection’s failure criterion was established considering:
 rotation of the connection, which was limited to approximately 0.12 radian that
coincided with the deflection limit of a typical six-meter long glulam beam
determined by dividing its length by 20 (e.g. span/20); and
 the inability of the connection to maintain the applied load, after which the runaway
of the connection’s rotations will occur.

The moment-resisting capacity of the weakest connection was determined at 5.5 kN.m,
which was developed at each beam-to-column connection by applying a constant transverse
load of 8.3 kN on the glulam column in the center of each test assembly.
In addition, the authors determined that a side member reduction factor for the WSW
connections was not necessary for the loading of the test assemblies presented in this paper.
As it was observed that slotted wood members did not experience as drastic of a reduction
in row-shear out resistance as those in a WSW connection configuration composed of two
individual wood members (Mohammad and Quenneville, 2001).

2.1 Materials
2.1.1 Glulam beam and column sections. Sections used in the fire tests presented in this
paper were manufactured from black spruce glulam, and had dimensions of 137  318 mm,
with stress grade of 24 F-ES/NPG and architectural finish grade. The individual laminations
used in the build of the glulam sections measured approximately 25  50 mm and were
feather jointed at their ends and bonded with adhesive in horizontal and vertical layers. The
final desired cross-sectional dimensions were achieved by planning down the outer
laminations to the section’s designed overall width and depth. The principal mechanical
properties in the longitudinal direction of the glulam sections are summarized in Table I
(Nordic Structure, 2018).
JSFE 2.1.2 Steel T-stub connectors. Glulam beam sections were connected to glulam columns
using concealed steel T-stub connectors fabricated from 300 W grade steel using 12.7 mm (1/
2-inch) thick plates. Connections were secured to both sides of the glulam column, centered
in each test assembly using four 450 mm long fully threaded 19.1 mm (3/4-inch) diameter
steel rods. The concealed steel connectors were inserted into slotted cuts that were prepared
in the glulam beam sections and then were connected using 19.1 mm (3/4-inch) diameter
A325M high-strength steel bolts measuring 175 mm in length. Tolerance of 1-2 mm was
used for both, the bolt holes and the slotted cuts.
2.1.3 Self-tapping screws. Each of the beam-to-column glulam connections in four of the
eight test assemblies was reinforced with six SWG ASSY® VG plus CSK STS, each
measured 300 mm in length and 8 mm in diameter. The STS were made of carbon steel and
has bending yield strength of 1,015 MPa and shear strength of 641 MPa (CCMC, 2014).

2.2 Test assembly details and fabrication process

The eight large-scale sub-frame test assemblies, each composed of two symmetric glulam
beam-to-column connections, were subjected to standard fire while being exposed to a
monotonic load throughout the fire tests to investigate the following parameters: bolt end
distance; number of bolt rows; and the use of perpendicular-to-wood grain reinforcement.
The eight test assemblies were arranged into two groups, where the four assemblies in each
group had bolt end distance of either four- or five-times the bolt diameter on their
connections. In each group, two different bolt patterns were used: four bolts in two rows, in
the connections of two test assemblies; and six bolts in three rows, with the third row placed
along the centroid of the section, in the connections of the other two test assemblies. Also,
half the number of test assemblies had their beam-to-column connections reinforced
perpendicular to wood grain using STS with the head of the screws countersunk into the
beam’s bottom side, which was subjected to tensile stresses.
The bolt end distance is defined as the distance between the center line of the first column
of bolts and the end of the beam section in contact with the flange of the steel connector. Full
measurements of the two steel T-stub connectors, with four- and five-times the bolt diameter
end distances are shown in Figures 1(a) and 1(b), respectively.
All beam-to-column connections required that a vertical slotted cut be made in each beam
section using a portable band-saw mill. Also, to have the glulam beam ends flushed with the
steel T-stub connectors’ head plate, cylindrical notches were cut into the end of the beam
section to accommodate and conceal the steel nuts used to attach the steel T-stub connectors to
the glulam column using four long steel threaded rods. The notches were located at the top
and bottom of the beam, away from the potential pullout path for row shear out near the beam
side exposed to tensile stresses. The location of the notches was chosen to minimally affect the

Property Units (MPa)

Comp. parallel to grain 33.0

Comp. perp. to grain 7.5
Tension parallel to grain 20.4
Modulus of elasticity 13,100
Flexural bending 30.7
Table I. Longitudinal shear 2.2
Specified strengths Charring rate 0.7 mm/min
and charring rate of
glulam sections Source: Nordic Structures (2018)
rate of corner rounding during charring on the beam tension side. It was expected that as the Wood-steel-
beam rotation increases, the widening gap between the beam end and the T-stub head plate on wood bolted
the column where the notches were cut will also increase and allows more heat to penetrate
connections
through the developed gap. However, the distance from the bottom of the beam to connectors
was greater than the side thickness resisting row shear. Therefore, the time to failure in the
tests would be primarily governed by the charring rate of the wood sides resisting row shear
out from the bolts, and the charring rate of the loaded end distance along the line of action of
the bolts exposed to fire as the beam rotation increases over the course of the fire test. The four
nuts used with the long steel threaded rods to attach the T-stub connectors to the glulam
column, which are accommodated by the notches, had no discernible impact on the charring
rate of the glulam beam section in comparison to the other governing factors.
In four test assemblies, STS was installed in a row of three on each side of the concealed
steel plate. Each row of screws was centered laterally between the concealed steel plate and
the respective face of the beam. Longitudinally along each screw row, one screw was
centered between the end of the beam and the first column of bolts; one between the
Columns 1 and 2 of bolts; and the third at 50 mm distance beyond the Column 2 of bolts.
This specific arrangement of the six screws in each beam section was selected so that the
STS were installed at the center of the wood stress blocks that resisted the row shear out
during loading. Figure 2 shows the layout of the STS installed in a glulam beam section with
six bolts using four-times the bolt diameter end distances.
The test matrix of the eight different sub-frame assemblies, including their beam-to-
column connections’ details and designations are summarized in Table II below.

2.3 Test setup and procedure

Test assemblies were inversely carried on two insulated steel supports that were spaced
3,000 mm apart and located within a large-scale fire testing furnace accommodated at
Lakehead University’s Fire Testing and Research Laboratory. Figure 3 shows a general sub-
frame test assembly with two symmetric beam-to-column WSW connections installed inside
the fire testing furnace.
The inversely supported assembly was chosen to represent a column loss scenario as little
information is available on the behavior of timber connections undergoing a change in

Figure 1.
(a) Steel connector
with four-times the
bolt diameter end
distances (b) steel
connector with five-
times the bolt
diameter end
distances
JSFE

Figure 2.
STS layout in a
glulam beam section
with six bolts using
four-times the bolt
diameter end
distances

No. of connection No. of bolts used

Test no. replicates in each connection Bolt end distances Use of STS

1F 2 4 Four times the bolt dia No

2F 6
3F 4 Five times the bolt dia
4F 6
1F(R) 4 Four times the bolt dia Yes
2F(R) 6
Table II. 3F(R) 4 Five times the bolt dia
Beam-to-column test 4F(R) 6
assemblies’ details
and designations Note: R: refers to STS-reinforced connections

loading because of a column removal scenario at either normal or elevated temperatures. The
support distances were chosen to represent the maximum shear, zero moment (bending
moment inflection point) location of a two-span continuous glulam beam with a typical span
length of about 6.0 m undergoing a middle column removal scenario if the beam’s far ends
attached to end columns via semi-rigid beam-to-column connections similar to the ones under
investigation. In case of a fire, removing the middle column will not only cause the beam-to-
column connections to undergo a change in load paths but also be exposed to different fire
flow paths. Specifically, under typical loading conditions, it can be assumed that the top of a
connection would be under tension and the bottom side would undergo compression; or
based on that a typical beam-to-column timber connection is assumed to be perfectly axially
loaded in either tension or compression. However, in a column removal scenario, the
 Wood-steel-
wood bolted
connections

Figure 3.
A general test
assembly with two
symmetric beam-to-
column connections
installed inside the
furnace with
thermocouples and
instrumentation
attached

underside of the connection undergoes tension and the topside compression. Therefore, under
both ambient and elevated temperatures, connections previously designed with an adequate
bolt end distance or fire resistance time, may not have the adequate design characteristic
demanded by the new scenario. The most obvious effect of a column removal on a timber
connection would be that under ideal conditions the tension side would most typically by
shielded from a fire by a slab or floor system placed along the top side of the beam if a fire is
only present along the underside of the beam. However, when a column is removed, the
loaded bolt end distance of the connection resisting row shear out from the tension force is
now on the bottom, where is not only more vulnerable to fire because of its proximity but also
the beam section end becomes exposed to fire due to excessive connection rotations.
A high-capacity hydraulic cylinder with a load cell, installed above the furnace and
attached to a strong steel loading structure that also was used to support the furnace above
the facility floor, was used to apply the transverse design load on top of the glulam column of
the test assembly via an insulated short steel column, Figure 3. The transverse load applied
to the column was monitored in real time and kept constant as the test assembly deflected
during the fire test and until the failure criteria were reached. Failure was determined by the
beam-to-column rotation limit, which often coincided with the assembly no longer being able
to maintain the applied load, which was characterized by sudden run-away of deflections that
exponentially increased as the stroke of the jack was increased rapidly to maintain the
applied moment on the connections. Two draw-wire displacement transducers were installed,
outside the furnace, on the supporting steel structure and attached to two ceramic rods that
were inserted into the furnace through small pre-drilled holes in the furnace’s roof.
Throughout the duration of the fire test, the two ceramic rods were in contact with the top
side of the glulam beams. Each rod was placed 200 mm away from the respective side of the
glulam column to capture the vertical deflections of the left- and right-side beams.
The measured beam’s vertical displacements in conjunction with the vertical
displacements of the glulam column, in the middle of each test assembly, measured by a
third externally installed draw-wire displacement transducer, were used to determine the
JSFE corresponding beam rotations with respect to the vertical glulam column. The temperatures
at different locations of one of the beam-to-column connections in each test assembly were
recorded using 12 high-temperature resistance K-type thermocouples, as shown in Figure 4.
Six thermocouples were installed 30 mm deep in the wood section, measured from the front
face of the beam. The other six thermocouples were installed to measure the temperatures of
the steel components: four were installed on the steel plate and two on the bolt heads.
The transverse load was applied on the test assembly in four increments, each of 25 per
cent, and the full load was maintained for at least 30 min prior to the start of the fire test, as
per CAN/CSA-S101 standard. The standard fire exposure was controlled and monitored
using a built-in computer system and a few shielded thermocouples that are integral
components of the custom-designed fire testing furnace. Figure 5 shows the right side of a
test assembly with beam-to-column connections of six bolts and five-times the bolt diameter
end distances undergoing standard fire exposure.
The vertical deflections of the two beams, in each test assembly, were measured
throughout the fire test, and once any of the beams experienced a maximum deflection that
was equal to the deflection failure criterion, the fire test was terminated. The maximum
beam’s vertical deflection, measured 200 mm away from the beam end near the middle
column was set at a magnitude that corresponds to a beam-to-column connection rotation of
about 0.12 radian.

3. Experimental results and discussion

For each test assembly, the vertical displacements measured using the three draw-wire
displacement transducers, attached to the column and the two beams were used to
calculate the gradual change in the angle of rotation of the beam-to-column connections, left
and right to the glulam column in the middle of the test assembly. As for the thermal

Figure 4.
Thermocouples
layout, steel plate
(left); and wood beam
(right)
 Wood-steel-
wood bolted
connections

Figure 5.
Test assembly of
beam-to-column
connections with six
bolts in three rows
undergoing standard
fire exposure

measurements, the temperatures of the wood sections at mid-depth between the concealed
steel plate and the external char layer were measured using the thermocouples labeled TC3
through TC8 that were placed at locations corresponded to the center of the wood blocks
exposed to either compressive or tensile stresses along the bolt rows, as well as those blocks
along the neutral axis of the glulam beam section. Thermocouples labeled TC9 through
TC14 were used to measure the temperatures of the concealed steel plate at four different
points, as well as the temperatures of two bolt heads at the top and bottom bolt rows. The
rotation values for the left- and right-side connections were found to be consistent with each
other over almost the entire course of the fire test. This symmetric rotational behavior in all
test assemblies confirmed that each assembly was centrally loaded.
The time to failure of the eight different beam-to-column connection configurations
having two bolt patterns and two bolt end distances with and without STS
reinforcement are summarized below in Table III. The relationships of the left- and
right-side connections’ rotations with respect to time during fire tests were developed
for all eight test assemblies. A linear increase in the connection’s rotations occurred
during the initial time of the fire test, between 3-5 min, however, once enough time
elapsed, the connection’s rotations increased exponentially with respect to time until
the connection’s failure criterion was reached.

3.1 Effect of bolt end distance on the connection’s rotational behavior and time to failure
In Figures 6 and 7, for unreinforced WSW beam-to-column connections, increasing the bolt
end distance from four- to five-times, the bolt diameter increased the time to failure by a
JSFE greater time increment for the four-bolt connections than that for the six-bolt connections
(100 s compared to 70 s, respectively).
As highlighted in Figures 8 and 9, increasing the bolt end distance from four- to five-
times the bolt diameter in reinforced connections almost did not increase the time to failure
of the four-bolt connections; while it slightly increased the time to failure of six-bolt
connections by about 80 s.

3.2 Effect of number of bolt rows on the connection’s rotational behavior and time to failure
The effect of increasing the number of bolt rows from two to three rows, each of two bolts,
on the time to failure of the unreinforced connections, featuring four- and five-times the bolt
diameter end distances are shown in Figures 10 and 11, respectively. For the connections
with four-times the bolt diameter end distances, increasing the number of bolt rows from
two to three rows increased the time to failure by about 165 s; while it increased the time to
failure of the connections with five-times the bolt diameter end distances by about 135 s. In
summary, the marginal enhancement in the fire performance of the different beam-to-
column connection assemblies was more pronounced in the connection with four-times the
bolt diameter end distances compared to those with five-times the bolt diameter end
distances. In addition, it was observed that the rotational behavior of the connection
assemblies having three bolt rows was noticeably stiffer compared to that exhibited by
those of two bolt rows. The rotational behavior of the connection configurations using three

Time to failure
Test no. Bolt end distances No. of bolts Use of STS (seconds) (minutes)

1F Four times the bolt dia 4 No 817.0 13.62

1F(R) 4 Yes 1,020.0 17.00
2F 6 No 969.0 16.15
2F(R) 6 Yes 1,092.0 18.20
3F Five times the bolt dia 4 No 921.0 15.35
3F(R) 4 Yes 1,028.0 17.13
Table III. 4F 6 No 1,050.0 17.50
Summary of time to 4F(R) 6 Yes 1,140.0 19.00
failure results for all
eight test assemblies Note: R: refers to STS-reinforced connections

Figure 6.
Time-rotation
relationships 0.14
Test 1F (right-side beam rotation)
developed to 0.12 Test 1F (left-side beam rotation)
illustrate the effect of Test 3F (right-side beam rotation)
0.1
Rotation (radians)

increasing the bolt Test 3F (left-side beam rotation)

end distances, from 0.08

four- to five-times the 0.06
bolt diameter, on the
0.04
time to failure in
Tests 1F and 3F, both 0.02
for four-bolt 0
connections 0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200
Time (s)
rows of bolts is illustrated by the smaller tangential slopes of their time-rotation Wood-steel-
relationships approaching failure compared to the tangential slopes of the time-rotation wood bolted
relationships of the connection configurations using two rows of bolts with four- and five-
times the bolt diameter end distances, Figures 10 and 11, respectively.
connections
In Figures 12 and 13, having three rows of bolts instead of two rows of bolts enhanced
the time to failure of the reinforced connections with both four- and five-times the bolt
diameter end distances. The enhancement of the connection’s time to failure due to
increasing the number of bolt rows was greater in the connections with five-times the bolt
diameter end distances compared to those with four-times the bolt diameter end distances,
as the incremental increases in the time to failure were recorded as 155 and 72 s,
respectively.

3.3 Effect of self-tapping screws reinforcement on the connection’s moment-resisting

capacity, rotational behavior and time to failure
Figures 14-17 illustrate the effect of using STS reinforcement on the fire performance of
WSW beam-to-column glulam connections that have been experimentally examined in this
research project. For all four different connection configurations, the introduction of
perpendicular-to-wood grain reinforcement increased the time to failure by greater
increments than those observed when increasing either the bolt end distance, from four- to

Figure 7.
Time-rotation
0.14 relationships
Test 2F (right-side beam rotation) developed to
0.12 Test 2F (left-side beam rotation)
Test 4F (right-side beam rotation)
illustrate the effect of
0.1 increasing the bolt
Rotation (radians)

Test 4F (left-side beam rotation)

0.08 end distances, from
0.06 four- to five-times the
bolt diameter, on the
0.04
time to failure in
0.02 Tests 2F and 4F, both
0 for six-bolt
0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 connections
Time (s)

Figure 8.
Time-rotation
0.14
Test 1F(R) (right-side beam rotation)
relationships
0.12 Test 1F(R) (left-side beam rotation) developed to
0.1 Test 3F(R) (right-side beam rotation) illustrate the effect of
Rotation (radians)

Test 3F(R) (left-side beam rotation) increasing the bolt

0.08
end distances, from
0.06 four- to five-times the
bolt diameter, on the
0.04
time to failure in
0.02 Tests 1F(R) and 3F
0 (R), both for four-bolt
0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 connections
Time (s)
JSFE five-times the bolt diameter or increasing the number of bolt rows, from two to three rows, of
both, reinforced and unreinforced connections. In Figure 14, the time to failure increase
increment was most pronounced in the connections with four-times the bolt diameter end
distances that used four bolts in two rows, gaining an additional 200 s in its time to failure.
Reinforcing the six-bolt connections of four-times the bolt diameter end distances enhanced
their time to failure by an increment of 104 s, Figure 15. As highlighted in Figures 16 and 17,
reinforced connections with five-times the bolt diameter end distances had increased its time
to failure by 96 and 115 s in four- and six-bolt connections, respectively. In all four different
connection configurations, the connections with STS reinforcement experienced a
considerably lesser rate of gradually increased linear rotations and significant delay in the
time when the exponential time-rotation relationships’ trend was observed throughout the
fire test duration.

3.4 Time-temperature curves of self-tapping screws-reinforced connections

Figure 18 illustrates the time-temperature curves developed from the thermal measurements
captured in Test 1F(R) and are provided as a typical thermal profile of a general WSW
glulam connection experimentally examined under standard fire exposure in this research
project.

Figure 9.
0.14
Time-rotation
relationships 0.12
Test 2F(R) (right-side beam rotation)
Test 2F(R) (left-side beam rotation)
developed to
0.1 Test 4F(R) (right-side beam rotation)
illustrate the effect of
Rotation (radians)

Test 4F(R) (left-side beam rotation)

increasing the bolt 0.08
end distances, from
four- to five-times the 0.06

bolt diameter, on the 0.04

time to failure in
Tests 2F(R) and 4F 0.02

(R), both for six-bolt 0

connections 0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200
Time (s)

Figure 10.
Time-rotation
relationships
developed to 0.14
illustrate the effect of 0.12
Test 1F (right-side beam rotation)
increasing the Test 1F (left-side beam rotation)
0.1 Test 2F (right-side beam rotation)
number of bolt rows,
Rotation (radians)

Test 2F (left-side beam rotation)

from two to three 0.08
rows, on the time to 0.06
failure in Tests 1F
0.04
and 2F, both with
four-times the bolt 0.02
diameter end 0
distances 0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200
Time (s)
From the developed time-temperature curves, it was noticed that the internal temperatures Wood-steel-
of the wood sections, as well as the temperatures of the concealed steel components, were wood bolted
much lower than the environment temperature inside the furnace. Also, based on the
connections
captured thermal measurements, it was observed that rotations began to occur in beam-to-
column connections when the internal temperatures of the wood section, midway between
the external char layer and the concealed steel plate located at the lower row of bolts
resisting row shear out, reached approximately 200°C. At this temperature, wood
mechanical properties began to deteriorate rapidly prior to complete charring. All time-
temperature curves were found to be in good agreement with each other throughout most of
the fire test durations. Additionally, a hydrothermal phenomenon was observed to develop
on the concealed steel plates, reducing the steel components’ temperatures for most of the
fire test duration (up to 600°C), in all eight fire tests, as presented in Figure 19.

3.5 Failure modes

Brittle failure modes such as row shear out and wood splitting were observed in the glulam
beam sections in all unreinforced beam-to-column test assemblies. Figure 20 shows the

Figure 11.
Time-rotation
relationships
0.14 developed to
0.12 Test 3F (right-side beam rotation) illustrate the effect of
Test 3F (left-side beam rotation) increasing the
0.1 Test 4F (right-side beam rotation)
Rotation (radians)

Test 4F (left-side beam rotation)

number of bolt rows,
0.08 from two to three
0.06 rows, on the time to
failure in Tests 3F
0.04
and 4F, both with
0.02 five-times the bolt
0 diameter end
0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 distances
Time (s)

Figure 12.
0.14
Time-rotation
Test 1F(R) (right-side beam rotation)
0.12 relationships
Test 1F(R) (left-side beam rotation)
Test 2F(R) (right-side beam rotation)
developed to
0.1 illustrate the effect of
Rotation (radians)

Test 2F(R) (left-side beam rotation)

0.08
increasing the
number of bolt rows,
0.06 from two to three
rows, on the time to
0.04 failure in Tests 1F(R)
0.02
and 2F(R), both with
four-times the bolt
0 diameter end
0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 distances
Time (s)
JSFE failure modes exhibited by Test 1F glulam beam sections used in the four-bolt beam-to-
column connections with four-times the bolt diameter end distances. From the figure, brittle
failure modes developed in the wood sections at the lower row of bolts, exposed to tensile
stresses, are clearly noticed. This suggests that the rapid increase in the connection’s
rotations preceding failure from fire exposure was mainly caused by the high temperatures
transferred into the steel bolts, which caused excessive charring of the wood section
surrounding the bolt holes that led to hole elongation in a direction opposite to the tensile
force direction at the connection’s bottom side and a rapid loss in the connection stiffness.
Most captivatingly, the inside of the slotted cuts was found to be thermally degraded but,
with no noticeable char layer formed nearby the concealed steel plates. In addition, the wood
around the connections was found to have very little residual strength with several
connections snapping apart by hand while removing them from the furnace, and during
char removing process after the fire tests.
Moreover, the steel connectors experienced minor thermal damage and minimal yielding
in all fire tests of unreinforced connections. The yielding of the connection steel components
is believed to occur when the steel material reached temperatures above 500°C, which
coincided with a rapid increase in the connection’s rotations in the fire tests. For all
unreinforced connections, failure was first observed to occur along the line of the bottom
row of bolts, where failure along this row resulted in splitting or row shear out of the wood

Figure 13.
Time-rotation
relationships
0.14
developed to
Test 3F(R) (right-side beam rotation)
illustrate the effect of 0.12 Test 3F(R) (left-side beam rotation)
increasing the Test 4F(R) (right-side beam rotation)
Rotation (radians)

0.1
Test 4F(R) (left-side beam rotation)
number of bolt rows,
from two to three, on 0.08

the time to failure in 0.06

Tests 3F(R) and 4F
0.04
(R), both with five-
times the bolt 0.02
diameter end 0
distances 0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200
Time (s)

Figure 14. 0.14

Test 1F (right-side beam rotation)
Time-rotation 0.12 Test 1F (left-side beam rotation)
relationships Test 1F(R) (right-side beam rotation)
0.1
Rotation (radians)

showing the effect of Test 1F(R) (left-side beam rotation)

STS reinforcement on 0.08

the rotational 0.06
behavior of four-bolt
0.04
connections with
four-times the bolt 0.02
diameter end 0
distances 0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200
Time (s)
between the end of the beam and the first bolt, then between the first bolt and second bolt in Wood-steel-
the row. This failure typically continued to propagate past the bolt farthest from the end of wood bolted
the beam as a split in the wood section propagated. This is a similar failure mode to that
undergone by the comparable connections loaded to failure at ambient temperatures. Also, it
connections
was noticed that hole elongation did not only occurred around the bolt near the beam end
but also occurred around the farthest bolt from the column-beam interface where the wood
did not undergo brittle failure in the form of splitting, row shear out or crushing.
For the STS-reinforced connections, almost no brittle failure modes, e.g. splitting,
cracking or row shear out were observed. However, the primary failure modes were extreme
hole elongation or complete combustion of the wood section between the first column of

0.14
Test 2F (right-side beam rotation) Figure 15.
0.12 Test 2F (left-side beam rotation)
Time-rotation
Test 2F(R) (right-side beam rotation)
0.1 relationships
Rotation (radians)

Test 2F(R) (left-side beam rotation)

0.08 showing the effect of
STS reinforcement on
0.06
the rotational
0.04 behavior of six-bolt
0.02
connections with
four-times the bolt
0 diameter end
0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200
distances
Time (s)

0.14 Figure 16.

0.12
Test 3F (right-side beam rotation) Time-rotation
Test 3F (left-side beam rotation)
relationships
0.1 Test 3F(R) (right-side beam rotation)
showing the effect of
Rotation (radians)

Test 3F(R) (left-side beam rotation)

0.08 STS reinforcement on
0.06
the rotational
behavior of four-bolt
0.04 connections with five-
0.02 times the bolt
diameter end
0
0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200
distances
Time (s)

0.14 Figure 17.

Test 4F (right-side beam rotation)
0.12 Test 4F (left-side beam rotation)
Time-rotation
Test 4F(R) (right-side beam rotation) relationships
Rotation (radians)

0.1
Test 4F(R) (left-side beam rotation) showing the effect of
0.08 STS reinforcement on
0.06 the rotational
behavior of six-bolt
0.04
connections with five-
0.02 times the bolt
0
diameter end
0 200 400 600 800 1,000 1,200 distances
Time (s)
JSFE bolts and the beam-column interface. Figure 21 shows one of the glulam beam sections of
Test 1F(R), using four bolts and having four-times the bolt diameter end distances.
Elongation of the holes of the steel bolts subjected to the maximum bearing stresses, at
the lower row of bolts, was substantially more pronounced in the STS-reinforced
connections compared to the respective connections but with no perpendicular-to-wood
grain reinforcement. To assess this thermally induced hole elongation failure mode, all four
test assemblies composed of STS-reinforced connections were cleaned and its char layers
were removed, as shown in Figures 22(a)-22(d). It is evident that the reinforcement provided
by STS substantially reduced the development of brittle failure modes at elevated
temperatures and promoted relatively ductile failure mode, such as steel bolt hole
elongation, in all STS-reinforced connections.

4. Conclusions
The experimental study presented in this paper investigated the fire performance of 16 full-size
WSW beam-to-column glulam connections in eight large-scale sub-frame test assemblies exposed
to CAN/ULC-S101 standard fire while being subjected to monotonic loading. Half the number of the
beam-to-column connections were reinforced perpendicular to the wood grain using STS, while the
other half were identical connections to each of the STS-reinforced connections, but with no

1,000
900 TC 3
TC 4
800 TC 5
TC 6
Temperature (°C)

700
TC 7
600 TC 8
TC 9
500
TC 10
Figure 18. 400 TC 13
TC 14
Test 1F time- 300 ULC-S101
temperature curves 200
(four-bolt connection 100
with four-times the
0
bolt diameter end 0 200 400 600 800 1,000
distances)
Time (s)

200
180 TC 9 - Test 2F
160 TC 10 - Test 4F
Figure 19.
140 TC 14 - Test 1F
Hydrothermal
Temperature (C)

phenomenon 120
developed on the 100
connection’s 80
concealed steel plates, 60
reducing their 40
temperatures
20
throughout most of
0
the fire test duration 0 100 200 300 400 500 600
(up to 600°C)
Times (s)
 Wood-steel-
wood bolted
connections

Figure 20.
Brittle failure modes
exhibited by glulam
beam sections, with
the char layers
removed, of Test 1F

reinforcement. Outcomes of this unique experimental study along with the observations taken
during and post the fire tests helped in drawing the following conclusions:
 increasing the number of bolt rows from two to three rows, each of two bolts enhanced
the time to failure of the glulam beam-to-column connections by a greater increment
than that observed by increasing the bolt’s end distances from four- to five-times the
bolt diameter. This was valid for both, unreinforced and reinforced connections;
 the incremental increase in the connection’s time to failure from a greater bolt end
distances was marginally more noticeable in the unreinforced connections with two rows
of bolts, in comparison to those using three rows of bolts. Comparatively, it was observed
that in the STS-reinforced connections, the incremental increase in the connection’s time to
failure from greater bolt end distances was marginally more noticeable in the connections
with three rows of bolts, in comparison to those using two rows of bolts;
 the time to failure of the experimentally examined glulam beam-to-column connections
was primarily governed by the shear resistance of the wood section resisting row shear
out driven by the force applied by the steel bolts through side bearing;
 the primary concern for these WSW glulam connection configurations at elevated
temperatures was shown to be the reduction in the cross-sectional dimensions of the
wood resisting row shear out, leading to the development of brittle failure
eventually in the fire tests;
 perpendicular-to-wood grain reinforcing using STS substantially increased the time
to failure of all four different connection configurations. This also reduced the
development of brittle failures such as row shear out, splitting and cracking, as well
as promoted relatively ductile failures such as elongation of the bolt holes and/or
yielding of the steel connecting components; and
 the reinforced connections with four-times the bolt diameter end distances experienced
burned out of the entire wood section between the first column of bolts and the end of the
JSFE

Figure 21.
Failure modes
observed in one of the
STS-reinforced
connections of Test
1F(R), using four
bolts and five-times
the bolt diameter end
distances

beam in the fire tests. However, increasing the bolt end distance, from four- to five-times
the bolt diameter, ensured that there was still residual wood section for the reinforcing
screws to bind to, and thus, enhanced the time to failure of the connections.

5. Recommendations
The experimental results obtained from this study showed that STS reinforcement is a
relatively simple and cost-effective technique to eliminate splitting in wood and promote a
relatively ductile failure in glulam beam-to-column connections. In addition, STS reinforcement
enhanced the time to failure of the different WSW connection configurations by time increments
greater than those obtained by increasing the bolt end distances, from four- to five-times the bolt
diameter, as well as those obtained by increasing the number of bolt rows, from two to three
rows. Therefore, it is recommended that for the fire design of glulam moment-resisting
connections further research is to be conducted on the effectiveness of perpendicular-to-wood
grain reinforcement in reducing the connections’ brittle failures at elevated temperatures.
Additionally, the scope of this research shall be expanded to investigate the following:
developing T-stub connectors that do not require circular notches to be cut into the glulam beam
ends; increasing the number of bolts, from two to three bolts, in each of the two bolt rows
instead of increasing the number of bolt rows, from two to three rows, each of two bolts; and
 Wood-steel-
wood bolted
connections

Figure 22.
STS-reinforced
connection test
assemblies with
charred layers
removed [Test 1F(R)
through Test 4F(R)]

considering some fire protection measures for the exposed steel components, such as wood
plugs for the steel bolt heads and nuts to ultimately achieve a time to failure of 45 min or more.

References
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Further reading
Andreolli, M., Piazza, M., Tomasi, R. and Zandonini, R. (2011), “Ductile moment-resistant steel–timber
connections”, Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Structures and Buildings, Vol. 164
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Materials and Structures, Vol. 37 No. 2, pp. 129-138.
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connections with perpendicular to grain reinforcements”, Proceedings of the 11th World
Conference on Timber Engineering (WCTE2010), Trentino.
Hampson, J.A., Prion, H.G. and Lam, F. (2003), “The effect of end distance on the moment resistance of
timber rivet connections”, Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, Vol. 30 No. 5, pp. 945-948.
Humbert, J., Lee, S.J., Park, J.S. and Park, M.J. (2014), “Moment resistance of post-and-beam joints with
concealed metallic connectors”, Proceedings of the 13th world Conference on Timber Engineering
(WCTE2014), Quebec.
Lam, F., Schulte-Wrede, M., Yao, C.C. and Gu, J.J. (2008), “Moment resistance of bolted timber
connections with perpendicular to grain reinforcements”, Proceedings of the 10th World
Conference of Timber Engineering (WCTE2008), Miyazaki.
Murty, B., Asiz, A. and Smith, I. (2008), “Wood and engineered wood product connections using small steel tube
fasteners: an experimental study”, Journal of the Institute of Wood Science, Vol. 18 No. 2, pp. 59-67.
Xiong, H. and Liu, Y. (2014), “Experimental study of the lateral resistance of bolted glulam timber post
and beam structural systems”, Journal of Structural Engineering, Vol. 142 No. 4, p. E4014002.
Xu, B.H., Bouchaïr, A. and Racher, P. (2015), “Mechanical behavior and modeling of dowelled steel-to-
timber moment-resisting connections”, Journal of Structural Engineering, Vol. 141 No. 6.
Zarnani, P. and Quenneville, P. (2014), “Design method for coupled-splice timber moment connections”,
Proceedings of the 13th World Conference on Timber Engineering (WCTE2014), Quebec.

Corresponding author
Osama (Sam) Salem can be contacted at: sam.salem@lakeheadu.ca

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