PSI - Issue 81

Valentin Aleksiievets et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 81 (2026) 422–429

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bracket that was attached to the middle connecting element with a pair of screws. To support the measuring instruments, overhead devices were used – tables that were screwed to the wood of the outer elements with screws (Fig.2).

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b

Fig. 2. Layout of measuring instruments at connections: a – front view; b – right view (1 – clock-type indicators; 2 – tables, for supporting measuring instruments; 3 – cylindrical screws) Nail connections under load can be seen on fig. 3.

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Fig. 3. Nail connections under load: a – front view; b – right view

3. Methodology of theoretical research The series of samples included 24 joints that were tested for low-cycle loads. Connections 1-8 were subjected to loads at which the lower level of low-cycle load application was zero. The upper level of few repeated loads was set on the first loading cycle for each group of samples at different joint shear deformations according to the following schemes:  1 → = =1.8 ;  2, 4 → = =1.6 ;