The use of Dowels as a Method of Connection

This book provides a significant outcome on the effect of dowels as methods of connections which might be a cost effective way of connecting structures. Dowels have been used in the past for small scale projects such as in the telephone industry and furniture industry. There are hardly any instances of dowels being used in large scale projects such as in the construction industry. This book identifies the key issues of using a dowel connection and why it is preferable over other conventional methods of connections. Testing that was carried out by making joints with an interference fit seem to give promising results. As a rule of thumb the critical distance from the centre of orifice to the end of the connecting panel is said to be four times the diameter of the orifice. Tests to examine this rule included varying the end distance from the plate. The literature review shows that having an interference fit is better than having a clearance hole. This method of interference fit has been adopted by the aerospace industry and research shows that it reduces the fatigue life of the material.