Ultrasound to determine physical-mechanical properties of Eucalyptus camaldulensis wood

ABSTRACT

The present research work had the goal of assessing the use of ultrasound for determining the physical-mechanical properties of clear wood in Eucalyptus camaldulensis from a 5-year-old forest stand located in the municipality of Sinop, Mato Grosso State, Brazil. The selection of trees was carried out according to the diameter at breast height (DBH) and height (H). Forty trees were harvested and a 2 m long log was obtained from each tree for the assessment of physical-mechanical properties. In physical properties, the specific gravity, shrinkage (radial, tangential and volumetric) and anisotropic factor were determined. The dynamic modulus of elasticity (MOE) was estimated by ultrasound applied in the longitudinal direction of the samples. The highest correlation with the mechanical test results was found for dynamic MOE, with R² values in the range of 0.30–0.75. Wood density was highly positively correlated with the dynamic MOE of the wood. The use of ultrasound as a non-destructive method was feasible to determine the selected physical-mechanical properties of Eucalyptus camaldulensis wood as a function of propagation speed and the MOE dynamic in most of the assays.

KEYWORDS:

• Non-destructive evaluation
• dynamic MOE
• physical-mechanical
• properties estimation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico: [Grant Number 104].