Abstract
Mechanical behavior properties were investigated for cabinet-type cabinet doors in kitchen furniture and drawer bottoms and joints used as storage areas under load in accordance with relevant standards (BS EN 16122). In the first stage, values physical and mechanical for particle board (PB) and medium-density fiberboard (MDF) were determined. According to the test results in the second stage, it was determined that the doors assembled using a torque of 1.3 N/m in the door tests were less deformed than those assembled with 0.63 N/m. According to the finite element analysis and real test results carried out in the final stage, it has been determined that the vertical loading analysis applied on the doors coincides with the real experiments by 85%, horizontal loading by 84%, and slam shut by 50%. The doors didn’t pass the final stage durability test in real experiments, and the analysis results revealed that the deformation areas were the same as for real experiment. In the drawers; strength 85%, displacement 84%, and slam shut 94% overlap are represented. The drawers completed the durability test in real experiments, and in the analysis, it was determined that the deformation that occurred under high stresses was in the same areas.
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Analysis of Strength, Durability, Stability, and Fatigue Parameters of Furniture Doors and Drawers Using Engineering Design Method
Sedanur Seker,* Emine Seda Erdinler, Yusuf Ziya Erdil, and Nusret As
Mechanical behavior properties were investigated for cabinet-type cabinet doors in kitchen furniture and drawer bottoms and joints used as storage areas under load in accordance with relevant standards (BS EN 16122). In the first stage, values physical and mechanical for particle board (PB) and medium-density fiberboard (MDF) were determined. According to the test results in the second stage, it was determined that the doors assembled using a torque of 1.3 N/m in the door tests were less deformed than those assembled with 0.63 N/m. According to the finite element analysis and real test results carried out in the final stage, it has been determined that the vertical loading analysis applied on the doors coincides with the real experiments by 85%, horizontal loading by 84%, and slam shut by 50%. The doors didn’t pass the final stage durability test in real experiments, and the analysis results revealed that the deformation areas were the same as for real experiment. In the drawers; strength 85%, displacement 84%, and slam shut 94% overlap are represented. The drawers completed the durability test in real experiments, and in the analysis, it was determined that the deformation that occurred under high stresses was in the same areas.
DOI: 10.15376/biores.19.2.2967-2989
Keywords: Furniture; Finite element analysis; Performance tests; Door; Drawer; Engineering design method.
Contact information: Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, Turkey;
*Corresponding author: sedanur.seker@iuc.edu.tr
INTRODUCTION
Wooden materials and wood-based materials form an important component of furniture and furniture construction design. Engineering design is the process of optimally determining the ergonomic criteria, materials used, construction techniques, and technologies used in furniture production.
Knowing the behavior of the materials involved in the formation of the furniture product against physical and mechanical effects provides technical, aesthetic, and economic benefits to designers, manufacturers, and users. In a study on the variation of properties of industrial particleboards, 3/8-inch particleboard was obtained for evaluation from seven different sources that commonly supply the same kitchen cabinet manufacturer (Cassens et al. 1994). The following properties were investigated for each of the sources: Young’s modulus of elasticity (MOE), modulus of rupture (MOR), internal bond strength (IB), surface bond strength, screw withdrawal from both the face and the edge, density, linear expansion, and moisture content (MC). Pinchevska et al. (2021) states that the durability of furniture products designed from medium-density fiberboard in real conditions requires preliminary evaluation, and they suggested using the kinetic theory of solid strength, which has been previously validated for particleboard. The results of the calculations correspond to the weighted average service life of furniture for kitchen applications.
Assessment of the structural safety of furniture also requires knowledge of the strength of the parts and assemblies that make up the furniture. In general, wooden furniture under loading experiences deformation in the fasteners and the element itself. Therefore, the design of the fastener is at least as important as the design of the element strength (Wang and Lee 2014). In wood-based furniture construction, it’s important to employ appropriate joint elements. Various structural errors can occur when a proper joinery is ignored (Haftkhani et al. 2011; Smardzewski 2015).
Some furniture is installed and fixed with fasteners (rails and hinges) that guarantee strength and durability. In many furniture factories, different slides for drawers and a wide variety of hinges for doors are used. In literature research, there have been few studies that have determined the assembly techniques of such important fasteners (Zhou et al. 2012).
Sert (2018) used medium-density fiberboard (MDF) in his master’s thesis and carried out mechanical experiments on 80 cm kitchen cabinets with two hinges. The results revealed that MDF has a higher load carrying value than particle board (PB) material. Erdinler et al. determined the deflection performance of wooden cabinet doors during opening and closing by using different material types, opening-closing angle, and load force. Medium-density fiberboard and PB, both melamine faced, were used as two different material types. The results showed that the effects of material type, angle, load force, and the mean between the material type and load force were significant, and they reported that the deflection value increased as the loading force increased.
Smardzewski et al. (2014) investigated the strength and rigidity of doors by observing the effect of the gaps between concealed hinges as well as the diameter of the screws mounting these hinges. They also examined the distribution of the results according to real tests by applying the numerical analysis method. According to the results, as the distance between the hinges increased, the door rigidity increased. Smardzewski and Majewski (2013) tested different hinge and drawer rails, and the mounting methods of wood, and plastic screws on panels. Different torque values are considered for screwing elements. According to the results, the advantageous screw and torque parameters were determined. It should be 1,342 N/m moment value with the mounting plates of the drawer slides and hinges and the screws placed in plastic sleeves on the furniture body. Smardzewski and Majewski (2013) determined the effect of insertion values as well as sleeves and connecting rings on the strength and durability of drawer slides. Those authors revealed that the maximum deviations that can be accepted in industrial practice for door working loads vary between 1.97 mm and 4.8 mm.
New innovative fasteners have been developed with original designs and user-friendly installation and disassembly methods. Computer simulations using the finite element method (FEM) have been employed to model these fasteners (Krzyżaniak et al. 2021).
Recent studies have shown that computer software, especially finite element method (FEM), is being used in the structural analysis of furniture systems. Some studies evaluated strength properties of dowel-joined sofa frames (Kasal 2006), load-bearing capacity of L-shaped furniture self-locking frame connections (Gric et al. 2017), and connections modeled as objects made of polylactic acid (PLA) (Kryzniak et al. 2020). Several studies focused on the analysis of furniture products made of wood (Tankut et al. 2014), the strength of corner dowel-shaped joints (Ke et al. 2016), chair tests (Laemlaksakul 2008; Hu et al. 2019; Diler et al. 2023), the table joint test (Seker and Koc 2023), furniture frames (Colakoglu and Apay 2012), screw connection design (Hu et al. 2023), furniture sandwich frames (Matwiej et al. 2022), sofa tests (Kuskun et al. 2020), honeycomb furniture panels (Smardzewski and Tokarczyk 2024), and wooden sandwich panels with auxetic core for furniture, including experimental and numerical analysis (Zhong et al. 2023).
Smardzewski and Ożarska (2005) created a mathematical model of a semi-flexibly connected wood screw and a numerical model of the cabinet furniture structure using the same materials. In addition, the authors developed a mathematical and numerical model of a confirmation type semi-rigid corner fastener loaded with a bending moment using the FEM.
Simek and Sebera (2010) focused on demonstrating the use of advanced technology in the furniture industry. They stated that computer aided engineering (CAE) represented by FEM and computer numerical control (CNC) technologies are key tools.
Zhou et al. (2012) determined the maximum deflection values and strains for furniture doors with varying hinge distribution configuration using FEM. Additionally, considering the elastic properties of the wood-derived materials used, the researchers used an experimental design method to determine the optimum number of hinges and the distance between them. The experimental design method has begun to be used in many areas where wood and wood-based materials are used (Hazir et al. 2019; 2020).
This study aimed to investigate the mechanical behavior properties of cabinet-type cabinet doors in kitchen furniture and drawer bottoms and joints used as storage areas (the joints of the front, left-right side, and rear parts) under load in accordance with relevant standards (BS EN 16122). Additionally, it aimed to model them using the SolidWorks design program to determine how accurately the behavior can be represented through experimental (real) and finite element structural analysis programs. In the literature review, finite element integration, especially with door and drawer performance tests, was not found. As a working hypothesis, it is expected that deformation will happen consistently in the similar manner as the tightening is fixed on screws. These investigations facilitate further research into optimizing the cabinet-type cabinet doors in kitchen furniture and drawer bottoms and joints used as storage areas furniture industry.
EXPERIMENTAL
The door and drawer, which constitute the sub-module of the kitchen model most preferred by customers in a large-scale company, were included in the scope of the three-stage study.
Kitchen Cabinet Doors and Drawers
In the first stage, the physical (density, moisture, swelling due to water intake, thickness) and mechanical (bending resistance, modulus of elasticity in bending, vertical pulling, screw retention) properties of MDF and PBs from which the furniture will be made were determined.
The kitchen wooden cabinet doors of MDF and PB with dimensions of 800 mm × 650 mm × 18 mm and typical wooden cabinet drawers of MDF and PB with dimensions of 250 mm × 650 mm × 18 mm were chosen to be investigated. A total of thirty-two cabinet doors (15 MDF-15PB) and thirty-two drawers (15 MDF-15PB) manufactured with two different materials were tested. The Tiamos type hinge had a 48 mm axis, 110 degrees, 0 crank, and 5 mm base. Hinges were spaced at 430 mm in accordance with widely employed industrial practice. The NovaPro type runners dimensions were 630 mm × 500 mm. Then, at the center of sample faces, pilot holes measuring 4 × 8 mm (diameter × depth) were drilled for all samples. Hinges and runners were fixed to doors, drawers, and body sides using Φ3.5 × 18 mm screws in the these pilot holes. A diagram indicating how the kitchen furniture doors and drawers were supported by hinges and runners is shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 1. Doors and drawers were supported by hinges and runners
The boards were sized as the cabinet, door, and drawer parts that make up the kitchen furniture. Screws were driven in with the assistance of industrial automatic screwdrivers equipped in a clutch.
Fig. 2. Test setup: (a) doors, (b) drawers
The clutch was set in such a way as to obtain two different values of drive-in moment: maximal, commonly employed in selected furniture factory and recommended which guaranteed appropriate tightening of screw once the clutch was activated. The applied value of moment was 1.342 Nm, while the recommended by producers value amounted to 0.623 Nm (Smardzewski and Majewski (2013). So sized furniture parts were assembled at the determined screw torque level (1.3 to 0.63 N/m) and prepared for tests.
Test Method for Doors and Drawers
In the second stage, door tests (vertical loading, horizontal loading, slam shut, durability) and drawer tests (strength, displacement, slam shut, durability in extension elements) were performed in four sections. Displacement (deflection) and deformation values were measured. Opening and closing was performed using a durability and stability furniture testing equipment machine (Tumke, Istanbul, Turkey). The study was based on the BS EN 16122 (2012) standard. The experimental designs of the tests applied for the doors and drawers are as shown in Tables 1 and 2. In real use, products do not have a systematic loading history and become deformed and out of use when the strength is exceeded. The visuals of each test performed according to the experimental designs were made separately for the door (a) and drawer (b), as shown in Fig. 2.
Table 1. Door Tests Experimental Design
Test level: The type of use that might be expected from furniture in relation to the five test levels.
Table 2. Drawers Tests Experimental Design
Structural Analyses with FEM Doors and Drawers
In the final stage, all the parts that make up the samples (cabinet, door, drawer, fasteners) were three-dimensionally modeled and assembled in the design and assembly program (SolidWorks) (Fig. 3).
Fig. 3. Design and assembly for (a) doors and (b) drawers
The modeled modules were created like the tests performed in real experiments, and the finite element method (ANSYS Workbench 21) was used for numerical solutions. While the doors and drawers showed resistance to forces in some real tests, in others they did not, and the test was completed. In this way, drawers and doors need to be defined in detail on the virtual platform. For this purpose, four types of finite element models were prepared to approximate the real performance test results. Finite element model all type is shown in Fig. 4.
Fig. 4. FEM all type for (a) doors, (b) drawers
In FEM analyses, as in real tests, the weight, number of opening-closing, and force application in Tables 1 and 2 were applied. In four test types, static analysis for test 1 and 2, transient analysis for test 3, and fatigue analysis for test 4 were applied in both modules. The initial results of the MDF and PB materials used in the analysis are described in the materials section. Since the features of the rails and hinges were made of the same metal (MOE; 2000MPa, density; 7580g/cm3 and Poisson Ratio), it was determined as 0.48 mm. In both modules, a fixed support was given from the part resting on the ground and different torque values were defined in the analysis. Rotating contacts that provide opening and closing functions to the hinges and contacts that provide back and forth movement to the rails were also defined. The results were recorded on the deflection amount at U1 and U2 points for the doors and U1, U2, U3 for the drawers, and the approximation with real tests was demonstrated.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Statistical Analysis Results by Deflection Value for Doors and Drawers
In the first stage, values such as density (0.63 kg/m³, 0.75 kg/m³), moisture (7.8%, 5.8%), swelling due to water absorption thickness (16.4%, 5.4%), bending resistance (13.9 N/mm², 29.4 N/mm²), modulus of elasticity in bending (6083 N/mm², 6129 N/mm²), tensile strength in the vertical direction (0.32 N/mm², 0.40 N/mm²), and screw holding resistance (1092 N/mm², 1561 N/mm²) for PB and MDF were determined.
Within the scope of the study, the test results of the cover modules used in kitchen furniture were evaluated at separate stages for each test method. In the final stage, the actual experimental results were statistically defined.
Table 3. Results of ANOVA for MDF and PB Material Doors Test Results
Mean ( ), standard deviation (*), term is significant with a 95% reliability interval.
Table 4. Results of ANOVA for Test 1 and 2 Results of MDF and PB Material Drawers