Development and Validation of a Semi-Analytical Predictive Model for Furniture Cabinet Performance from Corner Joints with Auxetic Fasteners

This study presents findings of an experimental and analytical approach investigating the relationship between the performance of individual corner joints and overall performance of furniture cabinets constructed with auxetic fasteners. The moment capacities and stiffness of cabinets assembled with different auxetic fasteners were also compared. For this purpose, 12 different auxetic fasteners were produced using three-dimensional printing technology. Cabinet bodies were constructed out of 18 mm particleboard (PB), while fasteners were produced using polylactic acid (PLA), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), and acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (ASA) filaments. Cabinets were subjected to diagonal static loading to determine their moment capacity and stiffness. In total, 60 full-scale cabinets were prepared and tested using 12 different fasteners (3 filaments, 2 fastener lengths, and 2 fastener types), with 5 replications for each configuration. The results indicate that filament, and particularly fastener type, had a significant effect on moment capacity and stiffness, whereas fastener length was not statistically significant. Among the tested filaments, PLA exhibited the best performance. Cabinets assembled with H-type fasteners showed higher moment capacities and stiffness compared to those with K-type fasteners. The proposed semi-analytical model developed provides reasonable estimates for predicting the overall performance of cabinets based on individual corner joint tests.