Studies on strength properties of novel joints machined with precut system - Influence on the strength properties of the change in shape and size

This paper deals with the dovetail joints, machined with precut system, which have been widely used in conventional constructionmethods of Japanese wooden houses. The purpose of this paper is to report the improved performance of the joint strength and stiffness. We developed a novel dovetail joint, whose sizes, shapes, and strength properties were examined, doing tensile tests and shear tests. As a result, the newly developed joints revealed the significant improvement of the tensile strength and stiffness. Besides, Shear test results of 1/2 scale model, a new joints showed strength properties equivalent to the conventional ones. In the full-scale model, the maximum load of the novel joint was slightly smaller than that of the conventional ones.