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The review starts by identifying the conditions for taking account of the semi‐rigid behaviour of joints with dowel‐type fasteners, i.e. well‐defined load–displacement behaviour, no initial slip and reliable ductility. It is described how reinforcing a wood member perpendicular to the grain with fibre fabrics, plywood or densified veneer wood ensures that joints have reliable ductile behaviour. New types of fastener with desirable properties are described; with the expanded tube fastener being especially interesting. Modelling the load–displacement curves for single fasteners and joints with multiple fasteners is discussed. The so‐called Plane Group of Mechanical Fasteners Model is most appropriate. The Spring Model is less suited to timber than steel. Some examples show how the semi‐rigidity in the joints influences the behaviour of structural systems. The conclusions are that taking semi‐rigidity of joints into account can lead to more efficient and economical structures.

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This paper presents a novel approach to the modelling of failure of finger-joints in glued-laminated beams. A nonlinear strain-softening model with stochastic material parameters was used to characterise the failure zone of the finger-joint. Monte Carlo simulations of the behaviour of finger-jointed laminations and of laminated beams were performed using the finite element method. Various lamination thicknesses and beam depths were investigated, as well as the effect of varying the ductility of the finger-joint. Finally the use of simplified finger-joint material models was also investigated. The results show that the proposed approach can account for such phenomena as the size effect and the laminating effect. Another observation is that the finger-joint ductility has a major influence on the lamination and beam strength and that a special case of the present modelling approach can be made to coincide with the classic weakest link theory of Weibull.