- Optimization of Door Hinges of a Large Refrigerator
- Youn, Seong-Jun ; Noh, Yoo-Jeong ; Kim, Seok-Ro ; Kim, Ji-Won ;
- Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A, volume 38, issue 1, 2014, Pages 71~78
- DOI : 10.3795/KSME-A.2014.38.1.071
Abstract
Door hinges of large refrigerators are required to ensure that the doors open and close smoothly in addition to supporting door weights and enduring the impact loads due to door opening and closing. However, door hinge design is difficult because of complex hinge mechanisms and sensitive structural safety. In this study, the mechanism satisfying the required spring response, space constraints, and structural strength is optimized, and the volume of the outer frame covering the hinge mechanism is minimized for reducing production costs. The entire design process is automated using the PIDO(Progress Integration and Design Optimization) technique, which achieves an efficient design process. Therefore, the frame mass is reduced to 24%, and the mechanism performance and structural stability are improved.