Track: Quality

Abstract

The purpose of this research paper is to determine the optimum cutting down parameters of bamboo, namely, the age of a bamboo tree (in years) to be felled and the part of a bamboo log to be cut (in metres from the base) which would endanger quality of the bamboo material affecting area of the defects occurred during mechanised production process. The Response Surface Methodology (RSM) was used in order to design the experiments, followed by the Genetic Algorithm (GA) that was applied to finding the optimum cutting down parameters for minimum area of the defects in the bamboo during furniture production. The results show that minimum area of the defects of the bamboo material varied in the age of a bamboo tree to be felled and the part of a bamboo log to be cut. A minimum area of the defects was obtained when the cutting down parameters, namely, the age of a bamboo tree (in years) to be felled and the part of a bamboo log to be cut (in metres from the base) were at 3.7 years old and 2.2 metres from the base respectively.