416 TJ.Dais,PA.Claisse/Constnuction and Building Materials 14(00)47-417 the likely explanation for the performance of the sam- ples during testing.This is at odds with Parallam's eme als th ed ir timber connections to EC5 is largely dependent on 8.Conclusions E6sasigaRme Acknowledgements positioning of a bolted connection on the glueline of a 416 T.J. Da¨is, P.A. Claisse rConstruction and Building Materials 14 2000 407 ( ) ]417 Fig. 8. Local crushing and longitudinal splitting failure of a Microlam sample. the likely explanation for the performance of the sam￾ples during testing. This is at odds with Parallam’s performance in flexure where it offers better strength and stiffness than Microlam. 8. Conclusions Bolted connections in structural timber composites appear to give strength and stiffness properties at least comparable to a solid timber of similar density. The positioning of a bolted connection on the glueline of a glulam member does not detrimentally affect the joint’s performance. The internal voids contained within par￾allel strand lumber appear to produce a lower, more variable, performance in bolted connections than their performance in flexure would suggest. This behaviour needs further investigation since the embedment strength of wood materials that is used in the design of timber connections to EC5 is largely dependent on wood density. The presence of these internal voids, not visible during fabrication, would not be taken into account under current EC5 design rules. Acknowledgements The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the EPSRC and its staff for this project