Connections in timber beams loaded perpendicular to the wood grain are prone to brittle splitting failure. Different approaches can be found in the literature and design codes to account for the splitting capacity in the design of the structure. To study the splitting strength of timber beams loaded perpendicular to the wood grain by bolted steel-wood-steel connections, a total of 240 larch timber beams were tested. The impacts of the diameter of bolts, the number of bolts, the relative connection height, the beam span, and multiple connections of simply supported beams and continuous beams as well as the connection locations with respect to simply supported beams and overhanging beams on the splitting capacity, were investigated. Material properties such as the perpendicular-to-grain tensile strength, modulus of elasticity parallel to the wood grain, and Mode I fracture energy of the tested beams were also evaluated. Based on the comparisons between the test results and the predictions of different approaches for timber beams loaded perpendicular to the wood grain using bolted steel-wood-steel connections, the prediction ability of different approaches was analyzed and recommendations for the approach modification were given.

垂直于木纹加载的木梁中的连接易于脆裂。在文献和设计规范中可以找到不同的方法，以说明结构设计中的分裂能力。为了研究通过螺栓连接的钢-木-钢连接垂直于木纹加载的木梁的劈裂强度，共测试了240个落叶松木梁。螺栓直径，螺栓数量，相对连接高度，梁跨度以及简支梁和连续梁的多个连接以及简支梁和悬挑梁的连接位置对分叉的影响能力，进行了调查。材料性能，例如垂直于晶粒的拉伸强度还评估了与木纹平行的弹性模量和测试梁的I型断裂能。基于试验结果与采用螺栓连接钢木钢连接的垂直于木纹的木梁不同方法的预测结果的比较，分析了不同方法的预测能力，并提出了改进方法的建议。