Furniture as a functional object must satisfy both artistic and scientific requirements. In particular, ergonomic factors are very important in furniture design in terms of human health and productivity. To make furniture designs at the ideal intersection of science and art, it is necessary to approach furniture design with a scientific systematic. Accordingly, this paper summarizes and analyzes the current state of biomechanics in ergonomic furniture design, covering an overview of the biomechanics utilized in different types of furniture design, biomechanical analysis, and testing methods. In the conclusion of the study, the literature analysis identifies the key topics and areas of future exploration regarding the use of biomechanics in ergonomic furniture design. The findings of the review indicate that (1) the primary studies on biomechanics used in furniture design concentrate on special furniture, such as wheelchairs and transportation vehicle seats, with minimal investigation performed on common furniture; (2) mechanical analysis, experimental testing, and computer-aided ergonomics represent the main techniques applied in furniture design biomechanics; (3) the reliability of biomechanics used in furniture design needs to be improved due to the lack of fundamental parameters of the muscles and skeleton of the human body; and (4) more attention should be paid to the use of biomechanics in the design of common furniture, such as household and office furniture, which affects people’s health and comfort. The scientific and rational application of biomechanics should be integrated into ergonomic furniture design to promote healthy living and enhance work efficiency.

The fracture behaviors of four wood species commonly used in wood products were characterized when subjected to compact tension (CT) load in radial-longitudinal (RL) system crack propagation. Meanwhile, the failure modes of evaluated CT samples were compared and analyzed using the fractal dimension method. The results showed that wood species had a significant effect on fracture characteristic values, including maximum fracture load, critical stress intensity factor and fracture energy. These characteristic values changed in the same way, i.e., beech wood CT samples obtained the maximum characteristic values, followed by ash, okoume, and poplar in descending order. The fracture behaviors of all wood species evaluated can be described by combining linear and exponential fitting equations at the crack initial stage and evolution stage, respectively. Linear positive proportional relationships were observed between fracture characteristic values and fractal dimensions calculated using cracks in front and left views of CT samples. However, the relationships between fracture characteristic values and fractal dimensions calculated using fracture surfaces were negative. The fractal dimensions of cracks in front view of CT samples could be a better indicator used to predict critical stress intensity factor and fracture energy, which had greater correlation coefficients beyond 0.95.