Investigation of Miter Corner Joint Strength of Case Furniture from Particleboard

Abstract

Most pieces of case furniture (kitchen and bathroom furniture, cabinets, wardrobes, tables and etc.) are made of 18 mm thick wood particle boards finished with various coatings. This three-layered constructional material is obtained by bonding wood particles of different fractions with synthetic resins using heating. The exploitation duration and quality of case furniture is determined by the mechanical properties of wood particle boards and the construction of joints of wood-based panels. On a frequent basis, pieces of case furniture with non-dismantable and dismantable construction are joined by using multidowel glued joints and cam connecting fittings intended for furniture, respectively. Wood-based panels can be joined with mitre joints whose mechanical properties have not undergone testing and comparison with regular joints when applying insertable wooden dowels or furniture connecting fittings. During the testing of particle board properties it was established that joining wood-based panels in this way ensures most efficient use of mechanical characteristics of the particleboard. In addition to the properties of the mitre joint, the tests also allowed determining the bending strength, tensile strength and bonding strength of the constructional material, and providing an original method for testing board properties, which can be successfully applied to the prediction of properties of the mitre joint. Tests were performed by using a universal tensile testing machine P-0.5. Joints were bonded by applying PVA dispersion. The surface of boards was veneered by using mahogany veneer and urea formaldehyde resin. It was found that mitre joints of wood particle boards can withstand loads that are higher from 2 to 4 times, in comparison to glued doweled joints or joints constructed with cam connecting fittings.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ms.18.4.3095