In this area, scientific activities focus on increasing and consolidating the current knowledge of
structural behaviour of timber and connections in weak zones and how to improve/enhance
performance and reliability. This scientific area includes:

• Identifying and categorising weak zones (type of failure, relevance) and respective mechanical properties;
• Grouping of connections (load level, type of failure, dissipation of energy);
• Using glued-in rods or self-tapping screws as reinforcements;
• Using densified wood or modified wood;
• Using other Engineered Wood Products (EWP) e.g. plywood, LVL or cross-laminated timber (CLT) as reinforcement;
• Using fibre reinforced polymers (FRPs) as reinforcement

Issues to be addressed:

• Evaluation of design models and identification of respective gaps;
• Potential of non destructive test (NDT) methods in identifying weak zones;
• State-of-the art in reinforcing connections and weak zones;
• New jointing techniques (in cross-laminated elements, or in components created with CNC machines (direct timber contact).

The key issues to be addressed for the research tasks are:

• Resistance to crack propagation
• Resistance to tension perpendicular to grain and shear
• Enhancement of strength at supports and connections
• Compression perpendicular to grain – supports
• Compression parallel and perpendicular to grain – pre-stressing
• Ductility and energy dissipation capacity of connections and reinforcements,

For the above areas, the strength and stiffness enhancement will be achieved mainly by means of
the following techniques available:

• Screws and steel rods
• Fibre Reinforced Polymers (FRP)
• Densified wood
• Other engineered wood products
• New developments.