I'm not a structural engineer, but I doubt that adding a second peg does very much to make the joint less of a "hinge". Because the pins are still relatively close together, and when the joint is being stressed like a hinge, the entire length of the brace is acting like a lever, very little extra strength to resist the torque would be added. What the second pin would do, however, is increase the strength of the joint in tension (provided the brace and mortise are large enough). But I agree with Richard that the frame should be designed such that the braces provide their strength when in compression. Braces should always be used in pairs, so that one of the braces is in compression, regardless of which direction the racking force is being applied. CB.
Originally posted by Roger Brown:
This discussion brings up a question which I have pondered over in my mind on several occassions. What does a structural analysis (FEA) look like with braces double pegged at each end. Intuition tells me this eliminates the "hinge" action that can result at the peg now (I think that one is obvious) and it seems that the destructive nature that braces transmit to the post/beam connection could potentially be minimized by having the increased rigidity of the brace connection taking more of whatever load is being put on the frame. I understand double-pegging on most frames as they are designed causes other issues such as the need to increase brace tenon size, etc. in order to accomodate the additional peg, but if you design to accomodate that (larger tenon, smaller dia. pegs), are there any other reasons that a double pegged brace would not be an advantage. Yes, I understand that in extremely severe conditions (i.e., earthquake, tornado, etc), a "hinged" frame could possibly survive better than a fully rigid frame, but it seems that under more normal conditions, a more rigid frame could better eliminate frame movement and the bad things that go along with it. I am very interested if anyone has modeled this quantitatively or has some real world experience. Great discussion so far......hope I didn't ruin it! 
