| Summary: | Mortise-and-tenon (M–T) joint is a traditional joint type commonly used in wood constructions and wood products. Bending moment capacity (BMC) is a critical criterion to evaluate the strength of the M–T joint. In order to design the M–T joint structure more rationally, many researchers have been devoted to studying on this topic. However, the factors influencing the BMC are too many to conduct comprehensive studies using experimental tests, especially for tenon size. In this study, the BMC and bending stiffness of the M–T joint were studied using a combination of finite element method (FEM) and response surface method to optimize the tenon size of the M–T joint. The results showed that (1) the proposed finite element model was capable of predicting BMC of M–T joints with the ratios of FEM to observed, ranging from 0.852 to 1.072; (2) the BMC and stiffness were significantly affected by tenon size, and tenon length had a more significant effect on BMC than tenon width, while the tenon width affected the bending stiffness more significantly; (3) the response surface model proposed to predict and optimize the BMC of the M–T joint relating to tenon length and tenon width was capable of providing an optimal solution; (4) it was recommended to make the ratio of tenon length to tenon width higher than 1 to get higher BMC of M–T joints. In conclusion, this study will contribute to reducing the cost of a huge amount of experimental tests by applying FEM and the response surface method to design M–T joint wood products.
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