Effect of the dowel length, dowel diameter, and adhesive consumption on bending moment capacity of heat-treated wood dowel joints

This study applied response surface methodology for modeling and optimizing heat-treated wood dowel joints, the most used joint in furniture construction. The factors examined were dowel length, dowel diameter, and adhesive consumption. The bending moment capacity of the joints loaded in compression or tension were the responses. The load was applied at a constant speed until a major separation between the two parts occurred. To figure out the bending moment capacity, the ultimate failure loads and the moment arms were obtained during testing the joints. The joints were tested by using a universal testing machine. A two-factor interaction model was established to describe the relationship between the factors and the responses. An analysis of variance was employed to test the significance of the developed mathematical model. The dowel length, dowel diameter, and adhesive consumption had significant effects on the bending moment capacity of the heat-treated dowel joints. The dowel length was the main factor that affected the bending moment capacity of the heat-treated dowel joints.