Paliwal, Vijay (2016) Curved class door refrigerators. Coursework Masters thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
The glass door refrigerators available in the market are very expensive and inherits the ongoing performance issues. Ironically, they are considered as premium products due to their appealing aesthetics and placement in higher price segment. This dissertation report investigates, describes and evaluates the possible design solutions for high quality and low cost curved glass door refrigerators. Analysis alongwith benchmarking of available products in market was carried out to understand current design practices. Alternate solutions were conceptualised for research and validation. The evaluation of concepts identified plastic frame design, named “Integrated frame” as an optimal solution to the glass door issues. It conforms to the testing requirements outlined by relevent Australian and ISO standards. Integrated frame design consists of a single piece moulded design where all the other components of a traditional refrigerator door frame i.e. top end cap, door panel, bottom end cap, endcap thimbles, door stops etc. are integrated to form a a common design. Provison is also kept for the reinforcement of the structure if this design needs to cater for the bigger loads on the refrigerator doors. Light weight plastic frame design and absence of intermediate metal door panel helped in reducing the door weight considerably hence addressing the alignment issues of the glass doors. It is also less labour intensive than as compared to the traditional design hence eliminating the variations in assembly. Integrated frame can be a retrofit design and will require minimum changes to the existing facilities.
Curved glass doors have been developed with an intention to be added to the product range of Electrolux Home Products. Product cost and capital expenditure estimation was conducted, it reflects a huge potential for being a commercially viable product. It overcomes and addresses the problems in the existing glass door refrigerators and offers an upmarket and low cost alternate. Introduction of curved glass will further make this product segment more lucrative for the consumers.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Coursework Masters) |
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| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address. |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Current - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - No Department (1 Jul 2013 -) |
| Supervisors: | Goh, Steven; Karunasena, Karu |
| Qualification: | Master of Engineering Technology (Technology Management) |
| Date Deposited: | 16 Jul 2026 02:45 |
| Last Modified: | 16 Jul 2026 02:45 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | glass door refrigerators, curved glass doors, design solutions, benchmarking |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/53254 |
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