The prediction of case furniture deflection

Abstract

In this paper we used the finite element method (FEM) to predict case furniture deflection. We dispersed and analyzed furniture which made of particleboard by elastic plate elements. The corner joint of case furniture is a key problem during the calculation by FEM. We assumed that small elements which located near corner joints were semi-rigid elements. Then we obtained the fabricated modulus of elasticity of the semi-rigid elements by individual corner joint experiments. We used four kinds of particleboard and two kinds of corner joint forms to make up eleven cases. The displacement of some typical points under each load measured by the Furniture Strength Test Machine. Then we compared the displacements of measurements with that of calculations, the errors were usually within 30 percent. Results of this study indicated that the deflection of case furniture could be calculated by using FEM, and proved that the program could be used for predicting case furniture deflection reliably.