Strength analysis of dowel jointed rubberwood (Hevea brasiliensis) chair side frame / Muhamad Fairuzzairi Abdul Hamid

The purpose of this study is to develop a method to analyze the strength impact of chair members with different load and location of stretcher. The main objective of this research are to determine stress in each element and the amount of rotation of each joint or mode by using Finite Element Method (FEM). The results showed that the critical moment occurs at the joint which is connected the back post to the seat. The loads that acting at the front post and seat are linearly increased when the position of the stretcher decrease, but, the load at the back post will decreased. This situation lead us to think that the most suitable stretcher position to support the maximum moment at the seat is, wherever possible to place it closely to the rail and as lower as possible to restrain the higher moment at the back post to the rail joint. From this analysis, we can optimize the dimension of each members form for ideal condition for furniture and optimize the condition of test with minimize design joint. Beside that, we also can determine or develop a method to analyze the strength impact of chair members with different load and location of stretcher, which can produce suitable and efficient design and shorter development times.