## 3 Results and Discussion  
### Experimental Results  
#### 3.1.1 Splitting Loads and Failure Modes  
The results on ultimate loads and failure modes from the experimental work on European beech are presented here. Splitting was the type of failure that governed the collapse of most of the beams tested. However, some specimens failed in bending. Table 4 shows the percentage of failures due to splitting or bending per test series, as well as the mean values of the connection failure load (\(P_{\text{exp}}\)) and the maximum shear force corresponding to \(P_{\text{exp}}\) (\(V_{\text{shear,max}}\)) for each of these two failure modes. The location of \(P_{\text{exp}}\) is represented in Figure 1.  
It should be noted that all the tested connections have the same distance from the loaded edge (\(l_{e}\)) but different values of \(\alpha\). This leads to the fact that all tested series in group 2 failed by splitting but not the series in group 1. In particular, all beams in the reference series of group 1 failed in bending, except for one beam in the reference series with one dowel. In addition, in the series of group 1 with the off-centre connection, some beams also failed by bending, except in the series with the connection closer to the support, where all beams failed by splitting. The closer the connection is to the supports, the more predominant the splitting failure. This trend is logical since the moment generated by the \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multicolumn{6}{c}{**Failure Mode**} \\ \hline \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Series**} & \multicolumn{4}{c}{**Splitting/Bending**} \\ \hline \multicolumn{2}{c}{_h/no.dowels/L/l\(l_{b}\)_} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\%} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\(P_{\text{exp}}\) (kN)} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\(V_{\text{shear,max}}\) (kN)} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{**COV (\%)**} & \multicolumn{1}{c}{\(l_{b}\)/\(h\)} \\ \hline \multirow{6}{*}{**Group 1**} & 100/1D/450/0.5L & 100/- & 32.5/- & 16.3/- & 5.1/- & 2.25 \\  & 100/1D/950/0.5L & 25/75 & 31.0/30.3 & 15.5/15.2 & -/4.1 & 4.75 \\  & 100/1D/950/0.38L & 67/33 & 26.7/33.3 & 16.6/20.7 & 7.4/0 & 3.60 \\  & 100/1D/950/0.25L & 67/33 & 26.3/28.3 & 19.7/21.1 & 5.7/0 & 2.40 \\  & 100/1D/950/0.13L & 100/- & 23.9/- & 20.9/- & 6.0/- & 1.20 \\ \cline{2-6}  & 100/2D/450/0.5L & 100/- & 49.0/- & 24.5/- & 10.5/- & 1.93 \\ \cline{2-6}  & 100/2D/950/0.5L & -/100 & -/37.6 & -/18.8 & -/8 & 4.43 \\  & 100/2D/950/0.38L & 33/67 & 23.7/23.9 & 23.7/23.9 & 0/0.4 & 3.60 \\  & 100/2D/950/0.25L & 67/33 & 27.1/21.5 & 27.1/21.5 & 8.7/0 & 2.40 \\  & 100/2D/950/0.13L & 100/- & 25.0/- & 25.0/- & 10.1/- & 1.20 \\ \hline \multirow{6}{*}{**Group 2**} & 200/1D/450/0.5L & 100/- & 27.2/- & 13.6/- & 7.8/- & 1.13 \\  & 200/1D/950/0.5L & 100/- & 30.8/- & 15.4/- & 11/- & 2.38 \\ \cline{1-1}  & 200/1D/950/0.38L & 100/- & 24.3/- & 15.1/- & 10.0/- & 1.80 \\ \cline{1-1}  & 200/1D/950/0.25L & 100/- & 20.5/- & 15.3/- & 14.2/- & 1.20 \\ \cline{1-1}  & 200/1D/950/0.13L & 100/- & 27.4/- & 23.9/- & 6.5/- & 0.60 \\ \cline{1-1} \cline{2-6}  & 200/2D/450/0.5L & 100/- & 29.2/- & 14.6/- & 20.5/- & 0.97 \\ \cline{1-1}  & 200/2D/950/0.5L & 100/- & 33.6/- & 16.8/- & 5.1/- & 2.22 \\ \cline{1-1}  & 200/2D/950/0.38L & 100/- & 22.8/- & 22.8/- & 20.1/- & 1.80 \\ \cline{1-1}  & 200/2D/950/0.25L & 100/- & 26.9/- & 26.9/- & 18.9/- & 1.20 \\ \cline{1-1}  & 200/2D/950/0.13L & 100/- & 28.5/- & 28.5/- & 24.1/- & 0.60 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 4: Experimental results: percentage of beams with splitting/bending failure per series (%); average values of the connection failure load (\(P_{\text{exp}}\)) and the maximum shear force corresponding to the \(P_{\text{exp}}\) (\(V_{\text{shear,max}}\)) for each failure mode; coefficient of variation (COV); ratio between the distance of the connection to the support (\(l_{b}\)) and the beam depth (\(h\)). load decreases with the proximity of the connection to the support.