Fatigue strength and design stress of oil palm wood for furniture application.

Oil palm wood (OPW) and oil palm empty fruit bunches based particleboard (OPEFBP) furniture components were tested on edge in order to determine their resistance to fatigue. Tests were carried out at selected stress levels that corresponded to specific percentages of the material's ultimate strength (modulus of rupture - MOR). Generally, the materials fatigue life decreased as the levels of stress increased, and the allowable design stresses for the OPW and OPEFBP furniture components could be set at 40% of their respective MOR. The study also showed that OPW does not perform as well as solid Rubberwood in cyclic loading, but the OPEFBP showed similar fatigue performance to the conventional Rubberwood-based particleboard

Performance and stability of historic casein formaldehyde

Casein formaldehyde was manufactured between 1904 and 1982 in Western Europe both by International Galalith Gesellschaft (IGG) and Erinoid Ltd. (amongst others). Charles Rennie Mackintosh used it in his designs for furniture commissioned by Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke. Casein formaldehyde may be identified through a range of simple and analytical methods available to most conservators in private and public practice. We can control the loss of colour and protect the surface finish by minimising light exposure. Material, aged and distorted, may be reversed if the correct conservation procedures are observed and implemented

Study on group technology efficiency gains for solid wood seating furniture

Group Technology (GT) a concept started in the 1920s to reduce transportation by standardising products in machine manufacturers is used here in the production technology of manufacturing furniture. The similarity in structural shape and technology of parts are classified arranging product parts into groups in order to organise and manage multiple varieties, small and medium-sized batches. This article aims to resolve the polarity between the demand for mass production of solid wood chairs & stools and the market demands for small batches and multiple varieties of seating furniture. The study classifies and organises the wooden components according to the managed data. Following analysis the results are used to gain efficiencies of manufacturing by adopting the GT method

University–industry cooperation for supporting sector restructure: wood industry case study

The central aim of this article is to demonstrate how a University-Industry European funded project investigated and proposed best practices for restructuring the wood processing sector in 5 EU countries with a view to reduce the consumption of energy in processing wood. The study refers to the cooperation between universities and industries and the presentation of a successful experience in which the joint action of individual institutions led to technological gains for both parties. The data was collected from 600 companies. The results obtained showed not only the efficiency of the joint research but also the success of the cooperation and the identification of the best practices of new approaches raised in recent studies. Thus, by studying the experience of these institutions in technological cooperation, we can see that the productivity and efficiency of the cooperation between the university and the company open up possibilities for contributing to the technological development of the country

Capturing characteristics of the conceptual ideation process of master crafts persons to inform design education: a comparative study of rural craft practitioners in Indonesia and in the UK

At the very early stage of idea generation, allegedly, a master craftsperson encounters cognitive dissonance to maintain beliefs/mindsets from various conceptual stimuli. We aim to capture the underlying form of cognition by examining the structure of thoughts collected from the subjective conceptualisation. A think-aloud protocol was employed to obtain verbalised thoughts of both Indonesian and UK master craftsmen. The keywords of verbalised thoughts were evaluated and extracted using a list of typical mindsets. The evaluated keywords were then analysed by means of a conceptual network to reproduce a model of the individual's mental state. This study discovered that Indonesian master craftsmen's conceptualisation is greatly influenced by the strong typical mindsets of object-attribute that emphasise rationale and mastery, which stimulates a pragmatic viewpoint. Furthermore, UK master craftsmen's conceptualisation greatly considers strong typical mindsets of object-attribute that emphasise wisdom and passionate, which indicates a rigorous mind. This paper reveals that both pragmatic and rigorous mindsets can create potential or barriers for creative cognitive resources

Comparative study on teaching methods for environmental courses

Environmental studies require both incremental and novel technical solutions. Both incremental and novel solutions have to fit in with societal, environmental and economic contexts. Moreover, they have to be robust to meet future uncertainties. E-learning has the capability to deliver these novel design solutions. We have developed a teaching method with this purpose in mind. The success of any course delivery is the practical translation of the competences mentioned by the UNESCO learning for the twenty -first century [1]: knowledge, design methods, internalization of values and communication with all relevant stakeholders. The authors of the present article investigated the effectiveness of two forms of workshops: (i) in a class delivered course with an integrated workshop where stakeholders are all present and (ii) through an e-learning delivered course with workshops targeted to specific stakeholders. Student feedback scores show no significant preference for either of the forms. With these and other evaluation results, the authors conclude that effective, challenging courses require a 360 ̊ and regular feedback, which is pivotal for increased student satisfaction

Estimation of user interactivity responsiveness and alertness based on eye blink -application in an e-learning environment

Most promising methods to deliver effective education at distance are rapidly emerging and evolving as e-learning systems. To support diverse teaching and learning paradigms, e-learning content has to be more than static online text and lackluster material. It is imperative to create a dynamic interaction between e-learning content and users. Technological advances offer new paradigms in distance education and strengthened the distance learning approach on e-learning systems’ usability and overall user experience. Distance learning is a cognitive and repetitive task, requiring learners’ attention as well as their interest. It is imperative to create a dynamic interaction between e-learning content and users. Therefore, content as well as delivery have to be supported in a highly personalised manner by e-learning systems. In this paper, the authors present a system which compiles feedback related to the behavioural state of the user (e.g. level of interaction and attention) in the context of reading an electronic document; this is achieved using eye-blink measures to identify alertness and responsiveness to the e-learning material. The real-time vision-based system used a novel evaluation approach to identify the level of alertness by performance correlated against user physiological properties (e.g. eye-blink parameters). Finally, the authors present an innovative interaction and alertness measure experiment to exemplify learner’s responsiveness to the online material presented. Therefore, when delivering content, in addition to the pragmatic functionality of an e-learning system the visual interactivity experience is emphasized as a significant feature for effective content development and delivery. This trend includes but is not limited to e-learning it can be used for microlearning, personalized learning and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) content development

A study on three dimensional scanning and mapping and implementation key technology of wenge bench parts

The paper mainly applies three-dimensional (3D) scanners to carry out mapping for traditional furniture parts, making a systematic study on the parts size, recognising the application potential of 3D furniture mapping. In the course of the study, firstly an historic wenge bench is selected with its components acting as measurable objects, and then secondly we carry out specific work for the experimental study. Combined with advanced 3D scanning equipment and the measuring process study, details are described using 3D mapping methods, mapping key technologies to acquire a series of data through the mapping experiment on the antique furniture. The purpose of this research is to enable furniture design to be better integrated with advanced technologies; the study and design of traditional furniture can be further developed using high-tech means. It can provide basic design parameters and image data to inform digital furniture development and design systems

The Need For Cyber Threat Intelligence For Distance Learning Providers And Online Learning Systems

About 80% of further education and higher education institutes have reported data breach or cyberattacks in the last 12 months. Phishing attacks are being reported as the most common form of cyberattacks on the university networks. These phishing attacks may be from a variety of sources and have as a reason to steal a variety of data within higher education institutes. The consequences of these attacks may be severe, and the potential route taken by these attacks is via the online learning platforms. Online learning systems are faced with a unique challenge as numerous systems (student data, learning content and assessment data, lab resources, research, and IP related data etc) are accessed and managed via the Internet by thousands of users over a variety of networks. As a large distance learning provider, Open University has vast experience of managing online learning systems over the past several years. In this study we aim to investigate the areas of vulnerability within the online learning systems. Then propose a framework of IT security policy and procedures to address the identified threats to a university’ systems