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Although dowel-type fasteners are widely used in the construction of furniture cases such as kitchen cabinets, there is little information available that can be used to design the joints that characterize this construction. Most of the available information deals with the withdrawal strength of the dowel as a function of various construction parameters (3-6). Also, limited information is available on the bending moment resistance of corner joints constructed with one dowel, and a very limited amount of information is available concerning the bending moment resistance of corner joints constructed with two dowels (1,2,7,8). Most of these data are comparative in nature, however, so they cannot readily be used in an engineering design process. Often, for example, ultimate load is reported rather than ultimate bending moment resistance.
For furniture engineers to design cases on a rational basis, they must have specific quantitative information concerning the bending moment resistance of both single fastener and multifastener joints, which is expressed as a function of the various joint variables. Of particular importance, a design method is needed that will enable them to determine the highest practical level of resistance that may be obtained from a single fastener and the optimum spacing of fasteners in a joint.
As a first step toward developing rational joint design procedures for cases, this study was carried out to obtain background information concerning the bending moment resistance of single-pin dowel joints in particleboard and also to provide the background information needed to formulate expressions for predicting the bending moment resistance of single-dowel, L-type, corner joints in particleboard.
MATERIALS AND DESIGN OF JOINT SPECIMENS
The configuration of the L-shaped, single-dowel, corner joint specimens used in the study is shown in Figure 1. (Figure 1 omitted) In general, each specimen consisted of two principal structural members, a face member and an edge member, joined together by a dowel.
All the specimens were constructed of 3/4-inch-thick particleboard. Only one type of board was used in order to minimize board-to-board variations in mechanical properties. The face member measured 6-1/4 by 6 inches, whereas the edge member measured 5-1/2 by 6 inches: thus, when the two parts were joined together along the 6-inch edge, a symmetrical joint resulted. A hole for the dowel was drilled into the face member...