Integrated product engineering and performance testing of furniture

The intention of this study was to develop a comprehensive methodology that integrated rational structural design methods with performance testing to provide an effective and economical means of assuring the design of furniture products that fulfill their intended purposes in terms of structural durability, safety, and overall quality. Included with the study were the design and analysis of wood school chairs and desks based on conventional structural design methods, evaluation of the furniture by performance test equipment and procedures selected specifically for that purpose, and finally a comparison of the results obtained by performance testing with that predicted by conventional design procedures. In order to achieve the desired objectives, 16 school chairs and 12 school desks were constructed using low cost basic wood machining techniques and equipment. Round mortise and tenon joints were consistently utilized in construction of all the frames. Product engineering methodology was utilized in the design and construction of the furniture. As part of the design process, prototypes were tested utilizing the low cost performance testing equipment and the cyclic stepped increasing load method that was previously developed for library and office furniture. The prototype frames were structurally analyzed by means of Finite Element Analysis software. Results of the study showed that low cost, simple, easy to use and maintain performance testing equipment can be used for testing school chairs and desks. Furthermore, performance testing was shown to be an essential part of the design process since it provides quantitative feedback. In addition, testing allows discovery and observation of unexpected failures and provides useful insight to actual usage and failure conditions. Results also showed that three-dimensional structural analyses by means of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) provided reasonable estimates of the overall strength of the furniture constructions. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that product engineering methodology, integrating conventional structural design with performance testing is applicable to the design of wood school furniture and provides “feedback” process that ensures the integrity and “robustness” of the designs. Similar methodology can be extrapolated to other types and designs of furniture