Abstract:Wood structural members are prone to endsplitting and cracking along the longitudinal axis, due to external loading and changes of humidity. Such cracks can impair the structural integrity and lead to stress concentration in the vicinity of the crack tips, thereby significantly reduce the load carrying capacity of the wood members. This paper presents the results of fullscale bending tests with longitudinally cracked wood beams. With consideration of the variation of specimen quality and the size effect of wood strength properties, the influence of crack length and position along the crosssectional height on the bending resistance of the wood beams was identified. The retrofitting effect of selftapping screws was also investigated considering different provisions and spacings. It was found that the longitudinal cracks within the shear span and at the midheight of the crosssection can lead to the biggest decrease (46.2%) of the bending resistance, and the selftapping screws are most efficient (retrofitting ratio of 1.12) while applied to the shear span and the retrofitting effect may decrease with the increasing of the screw spacing.