Sustainability issues are driving the civil construction industry to adopt and study more environmentally friendly technologies as an alternative to traditional masonry/concrete construction. In this context, plantation wood especially stands out as a constituent of the cross-laminated timber (CLT) system, laminated wood glued in perpendicular layers forming a solid-wood structural panel. CLT panels are commonly connected by screws or nails, and several authors have investigated the behavior of these connections. Glass-fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) dowels have been used to connect wooden structures, and have presented excellent performance results; however, they have not yet been tested in CLT. Therefore, the objective of this study is to analyze the glass-fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP)-doweled connections between CLT panels. The specimens were submitted to monotonic shear loading, following the test protocol described in EN 26891-1991. Two configurations of adjacent five-layer panels were tested: flat-butt connections with 45° dowels (x, y, and z axes), and half-lap connections with 90° dowels. The results were evaluated according to the mechanical connection properties of strength, stiffness, and ductility ratio. The results showed higher stiffness for butt-end connections. In terms of strength, the half-lap connections were stronger than the butt-end connections.

Industrialized building systems in engineered wood are increasingly used worldwide. Cross Laminated Timber – CLT is among the main constructive systems with wide use in some countries and mainly on the rise in Brazil. The high demand for the raw material for the production of engineered wood puts the debate on the development of the world forestry sector on the agenda. Currently, the most significant forest area is equivalent to native forests (93%), while planted forests occupy 7% of the global area. Given this, estimates found that reforestation wood production will not be enough to meet demand by 2050. Furthermore, deforestation may be intensified with this exponential problem.