Design Of A Modular Kitchen Furniture. Simulation Analysis

Abstract: One of the trends in computer graphics is to simulate the true reality that surrounds us. Virtual reality represents a three-dimensional environment simulation, generated by computer, in which the user is able to view and manipulate the contents of this environment.

The execution of this simulations for the most important parts of kitchen modules, help us understand the behavior of the object in case of applying certain forces, which is essential if the design is still under virtual prototype stage, software allowing us to make changes easily.

Key words: kitchen, simulation, analysis, design, modular, furniture

1. INTRODUCTION

Simulation solutions help design engineers reduce the inherent risk with innovation and get their products to market faster with less physical prototyping, decreasing costs.

In this article I will present the simulation analysis for the most important parts of the modular kitchen furniture because the project is still in the prototype phase.

These simulations help us decide on the final design, it allows us to visualize any deformation of objects/ modules where we applied a force.

Making this step allows us to see the behavior of objects in 3D without spending resources to make a real simulation, this involves costs reducing if we talk of an eventually product sold on market, being initially tested in a virtual environment.

The main advantage of this simulation is that allows us to change the kitchen design furniture according to our preferences and help us to see the weak points of the object, thus being able to save material.

2. SIMULATION ANALYSIS FOR THE MAIN KITCHEN MODULES

The kitchen parts analysed will be:

the cooking zone;

the cleaning zone ( with the dish drier ).

These are the essential and most exposed parts of the kitchen furniture.

In Figure 1 we can see the General Assembly of the modular kitchen, made using the software SolidWorks and to create continuity I used Simulation Xpress Analysis for this study.

Fig. 1 The kitchen modular furniture design.

Module furniture designed for cooking area

For this model I made two simulations one with a force of 1000 N ( Figure 2 ) applied on the right handle that help us expand the furniture module and another simulation with a distributed force that applies pressure of 1000 N on the furniture countertop.

Fig. 2 Modular furniture- force applied

To run the simulation I inserted the following data presented in Table 1.

Table 1

Cooking area model information

Stress results for this simulation can be seen in Figure 3, where we can observe the minimum value 4.6142 N/m^2 (Node: 6090) and maximum value of 5.01673e+006 N/m^2 (Node: 10662). The blue zone represents the non exposed zones and the red zone is the most affected zone.

Fig. 3 Stress results for cooking module

Displacement results for this simulation can be seen in Figure 4, where we can observe the minimum value 0 mm (Node: 1069) and maximum value of 3.55851 mm (Node: 6819).

Fig. 4 Displacement results for cooking module

The factor of safety for this force simulation is minimum 3.98666 in node 10662 and maximum 4.33444e+006 in node 6090 wich means the object is safe, also because the force applied is high.

In Figure 5 we can see the deformed shape of the furniture piece.

Fig. 5 Deformed shape

For the distributed pressure force of 1000 N simulation, we can see the distribution of fixture and loads in Figure 6, the main characteristics remain the same as in Table 1.

Fig. 6 Fixture and Loads distribution for Pressure simulation

Stress results for this simulation can be seen in Figure 7, where we can observe the minimum value 0.000480489 N/m^2 (Node: 15656) and maximum value 358547 N/m^2 (Node: 14039) .

Fig. 7 Stress results for cooking module – pressure force test

Displacement results for this simulation can be seen in Figure 8, where we can observe the minimum value 0 mm ( Node: 1035 ) and maximum value of 0.248064 mm ( Node: 13921 ).

Fig. 8 Displacement results for cooking module – pressure force test.

The factor of safety for this force simulation is Minimum 55.707 in node 140392 and Maximum 4.16242e+010 in node 15656 wich means the object is safe.

In Figure 9 we can see the deformed shape of the furniture piece in case of force pressure applied.

Fig. 9 Deformed shape – pressure force test.

Module furniture designed for cleaning area

I adopted the same approach for this piece of furniture, the data inserted are the same from Table 1, and in Figure 10 we can see the force distribution for all cases.

Fig. 10 Forces applied. Case A (left) and Case B (right).

Stress results for this simulation can be seen in Figure 11, where we can observe:

Case A: the minimum value 0.579683 N/m^2 (Node: 12250) and maximum value 1.323e+006 N/m^2 (Node: 15501) ;

Case B: the minimum value 2.97643 N/m^2 (Node: 9000) and maximum value 554098 N/m^2 (Node: 1918).

Fig. 11 Stress results . Case A (left) and Case B (right).

Displacement results for this simulation can be seen in Figure 12, where we can observe:

Case A: the minimum value 0 mm (Node: 1379) and maximum value 1. 73075 (Node: 7762) ;

Case B: the minimum value 0 mm (Node: 1035) and maximum value 0.879185 mm (Node: 4726).

Fig. 12 Displacement results . Case A (left) and Case B (right).

For this piece of furniture the safety factor will be:

Case A: the minimum value 15.1171 (Node: 15501) and maximum value 3.45016e+007 (Node: 12250) ;

Case B: the minimum value 36.0947 (Node: 1918) and maximum value 6.71945e+006 mm (Node: 9000).

Fig. 13 Deformed shape . Case A (left) and Case B (right).

Dish drier simulation analyisis

To run the simulation for this particular object we need the following data presented in Table 2.

Table 2

Dish drier design

In Table 3 we can see the study results.

Table 3

Dish drier – Study Results

3. IMPROVING A DESIGN USING SIMULATIONS

After testing the original model we can modify its design various ways to increase the resistance, for example I chose primarily to change the handle and positioning it in the central part, so when we apply a force to expand the drawer, this force is equaly distributed.

Fig. 14 Stress result for the new design of dish drier.

As we can seen in Figure 14 new design shows a higher stress resistance and has no critical areas.

In addition I opted for changing the material with an acrylic resin, specifically Corian, because is presenting a good resistance characteristics and advantages from an esthetic point of view.

In Figure 15 we see that the highest tension is on handle, but the force applied for this test was 1000 N, which in reality we don't apply such force on a handle drawer.

Fig. 15 Displacement results for the new design.

Regarding the drawer thickness we could not achieve significant changes since the sheets of this type of material come in standard dimensions and cutting them will rise the costs so is not an economical solution for an producer.

We have to note that all connections between assemblies components have been considered ideal.

4. CONCLUSION

This work approach innovative and technical ideas in the field of kitchen furniture, trying to test all the objects design in way to choose the perfect solution for what we want to reflect.

The furniture design is a compromise between functionality and aesthetic appearance, and using software simulations can show us the weak points of our creation in order to improve our ideas in an economical way, before materializing the product.

5. REFERENCES

[1]https://www.solidworks.com/sw/products/simulation/packages.htm

Authors:

Eng. Patricia Isabela Brăileanu