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Bending and fatigue strength of mortise and tenon furniture joints made from oil palm lumber

The furniture design and manufacturing industry is a global enterprise, with CAD technologies enabling designs to be interpreted in many areas of the world with cheaper manufacturing costs than the UK, including Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. Part of a larger series of studies into the timber species of these regions, this article focuses on a traditional jointed structure used in the design of many furniture products. It concentrates on two types of local timber indigenous to the region and therefore becoming more likely to be used in Western furniture retail outlets due to globalisation: oil palm lumber and solid rubberwood.

The bending and fatigue strengths of rectangular mortise and tenon furniture joints made from oil palm lumber and solid rubberwood were compared. The results showed that the ultimate bending moment of the oil palm lumber joints were half the strength value of rubberwood joints. For both materials the allowable design stresses for rectangular mortise and tenon joints could be set at 20% of its bending strength. This research proves the viability of rubberwood as a cheaper production material that meets European material performance standards.

The European Journal of Wood Products reports on results from research and development of wood and wood products and their biological, chemical, physical as well as mechanical and technological properties, processing and uses. Subjects range from roundwood to wood based products, composite materials and timber constructions, with related jointing techniques. Moreover, it deals with wood as a chemical raw material and source of energy as well as with inter-disciplinary aspects of life-cycle-assessment and international markets. It is therefore an important contributor of knowledge to the furniture design and manufacturing industries.