Withdrawal and bending strength of dowel-nuts in plywood and oriented strandboard

Abstract

Although through-bolts with dowel-nut fasteners are seldom used in upholstered furniture frame construction, they provide a means of constructing strong reliable joints in frames constructed of plywood and oriented strandboard. Since little information is available concerning their performance in these materials, a study was undertaken to determine the pullout strength of dowel-nuts from the ends of plywood and oriented strandboard and the strength of two-bolt moment-resisting joints constructed with this fastener. Results of the tests indicated that maximum pullout strength is obtained with placement of the dowel-nut as close as I inch to the end of the rail in oriented strandboard and 1.5 inches in plywood. Bending tests showed that ultimate bending moments of two-bolt moment-resisting joints up to 9,180 lb.-in. could be obtained with 6-inch-wide rails connected with two fasteners.