Development of a new wood-based modular furniture system - evaluation of suitable materials for connectors

Concepts for modular furniture systems are of growing interest from the perspective of bothproducers and customers, and they are now entering the area of mass customization. Modularity andstandard interfaces eliminate the interdependency of the components of a product, and allow themanufacturer and customer to change components without affecting the product architecture. In thiscontext, the connectors between components of the modular furniture systems are essential for thesystems. The objective of this study was to evaluate the suitability of different wood-based materialsfor the connectors of the modular furniture system, the focus being on the strength properties.13different types of wood-based material were tested in three-point bending tests, and the modulus ofelasticity (MOE) and the modulus of rupture (MOR) were determined. The tested materialsincorporated wood modifications such as compression, heat treatment and impregnation, as well asdifferent types of adhesives. It could be concluded that birch plywood bonded with soybean glue, andsolid cumaru wood are the most suitable types of wood-based material for the modular furnituresystem. Compressed plywood generally exhibited better strength properties than ordinary plywood,and the type of adhesive had no significant influence on either MOE or MOR. Self-bonding plywoodhad a high MOE, but a comparably low MOR. Solid cumaru wood exhibited both a high MOE and ahigh MOR. Materials which had reasonable strength properties and a comparably low environmentalimpact were considered suitable for the connectors of the modular furniture system, which meant thatnon-formaldehyde-emitting adhesives were favoured.Validerad; 2016; Nivå 1; 20151225 (dicsan)