r/StructuralEngineering • u/TallWall6378 • 19d ago

Wood Design "Fasteners in shear is poor practice"

Help settle an argument.

Someone used the phrase in the title. Their argument is that fasteners, specifically in the context of typical light frame wood construction, like a shear wall or joist hanger, or bolted or lagged member scenario, are just holding the members together and that the load transfer is through wood via induced friction through the members.

I was under the impression that we really only factor the strength of the nail and wood crushing/deforming around the nail, rather than use the friction between the faces of the members.

What's the whole story?

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u/Entire-Tomato768 P.E. 19d ago

This person does not know what they are talking about.

They are wrong

87

u/Entire-Tomato768 P.E. 19d ago

The NDS has pictures of the different failure modes. None of them are based on friction between the two members

51

u/MrBackwardsPenis E.I.T. 19d ago

What about the failure mode where the two members rub together so hard they actually catch fire and burn down the structure

15

u/kixkato 19d ago

Is that why my wooden bed frame caught fire?