In order to investigate the mechanical properties of laminated bamboo lumber-steel plate bolted connections under compression parallel to grain, a series of tests has been carried on considering the diameter of the bolts, the thickness of the main component and the end spacing of the bolts. The failure mode, stiffness, bearing capacity and ductility ratio of the connections were studied considering the influencing factors. The test results show that the failure mode gradually changes from brittle shear failure to ductile yield failure with the increasing of the thick-to-diameter ratio. As the diameter of the bolt increased, the stiffness and load of the connections increased gradually, but the ductility ratio did not change after the diameter reached about 16 mm. The initial stiffness of the connections reached the maximum value at 125 mm thickness of the main component. The yield load and ultimate load no longer showed a significant increasing trend after the thickness reached 100mm, and the ductility ratio was less affected by the thickness of the main component than by the diameter. The end spacing of the bolts had no significant effect on the load-bearing performance of the connections compared to the bolt diameter and the thickness of the main component. Based on the test results comparing the current national wood structure design standards, the American standards are more conservative, while the Chinese and European standards are in good agreement with the test. Considering the bolt diameter and the main component’s thickness as the main influencing factors, the load-bearing formula was proposed and it could give a reference for calculating the bearing capacity of laminated bamboo lumber-steel plate single-bolt connection.

laminated bamboo lumber, steel plate bolt connection, failure mode, load bearing calculation