Design Development Exercise: A Chair Frame Structure

Learning Objective

To develop students' iterative designing and problem solving capability by:

designing a chair frame structure within the stated constraints
choosing appropriate sizes for the various parts of the frame structure and the seat
choosing appropriate joining methods for the various parts of the frame structure.

Design Brief

Design a wooden chair frame structure.

Specification

The top of the seat must be 460mm above the floor.
The chair structure must be a rigid frame structure made from wood.
The chair frame structure must have four legs, a seat and a back rest.
The chair seat must be fixed to the chair structure.
The finished design must be safe to use.

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"Chair Frame Structure" animation by Laszlo Lipot.

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What you must do

Explain why four chair legs fixed to a chair seat without any other support will form a very weak structure.
Devise a frame structure that will support the chair seat. Use notes and sketches to illustrate your ideas.
Develop the design and use notes and sketches to show:
- how the various parts of the frame structure will be fixed together
- the joining methods that should be used to fix the various parts of the frame structure, stating the reasons for your choice
- the sizes of the chair legs and any rails that may be used in your design
- how the chair seat will be fixed to the chair frame structure
- the shape of the chair seat
- how the back rest will be fixed to the chair frame structure
- the shape of the back rest.
Prepare a pictorial view of your design, either isometric or 2 point perspective drawing.
Prepare a dimensioned orthographic drawing of your design.


Structures Module Directory

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