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Effect of
various factors on the rigidity of furniture
cases
Nurgul Tankut
Bartin
University, Faculty of Forestry, Department of Forest,
Industrial Engineering, Bartin, 74200, Turkey.
E-mail:
nurdez@yahoo.com.
Accepted
9 April, 2008 |
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Cases are
one of the most important types of furniture produced, yet
relatively little research has been done on the case
rigidity. In this study, types of the fastener properties to
overall case rigidity were investigated along with the
effect of material type and thickness on stiffness. A total
of sixteen cases were constructed and tested. Results
indicated that panel thickness and material type
significantly increased structural stiffness of case type
furniture. The results of experiments showed that the
stiffness of case furniture could be increased by increasing
the material thickness from 16 to 18 mm. Medium density
fiberboard (MDF) cases, in both doweled and screwed ones,
were stiffer than particleboard cases. Results indicated
that the stiffness of case furniture could be increased by
increasing the stiffness of corner joints, e.g. by using
screw with glue instead of using only screw or applying glue
to the dowels and whole edges instead of dowels only. Case
furniture designs using screws with glue resulted in higher
case stiffness than similar designs using glued dowel
joints. In general, the stiffer the end connection, the less
the deflection of the case was observed. The results also
indicated that rigidity of case furniture comes mainly from
the gluing of the joining surfaces. Therefore, knowing the
rigidity of the case furniture made of wood composites is
fundamental to the design of safe, cost efficient and
aesthetic design.
Key
words:
Furniture, case furniture, dowel joint, screw joint. |
