USING NONDESTRUCTIVE TESTING TO IDENTIFY PREMIUM GRADES IN SOUTHERN PINE AND DOUGLAS-FIR UTILITY CROSSARMS

Authors

  • Tyler Catchot H. M. Rollins Company, Inc.
  • Frank C. Owens Mississippi State University
  • Rubin Shmulsky Mississippi State Univeristy
  • R. Daniel Seale Mississippi State University

Keywords:

crossarms, strength, bending, modulus of elasticity, modulus of rupture, southern pine, Douglas-fir, nondestructive, grading

Abstract

Unlike lumber, wood utility crossarms are not currently available in premium grades that indicate a higher level of performance in service.  Previous research has shown that nondestructive testing (NDT) techniques are able to predict performance properties of solid wood products with considerable accuracy. The aim of this study was to determine the suitability of NDT methods for predicting the stiffness and strength properties of wood utility crossarms and possibly aiding in the identification of a premium grade that exhibits higher average performance values. Samples of Douglas-fir and southern pine were subjected to multiple NDT technologies to estimate modulus of elasticity (MOE).  Each specimen was also measured for MOE and modulus of rupture (MOR) with a static bending test.  Bivariate correlations and corresponding R2 values showed that Fibre-gen’s Director HM200 and Metriguard’s E-computer were the most accurate NDT devices among those tested for predicting both MOR and MOE.  Means tests also suggested that the devices could possibly be used to identify a premium grade that shows significantly higher average performance values.

Author Biographies

Tyler Catchot, H. M. Rollins Company, Inc.

Engineering Intern

Frank C. Owens, Mississippi State University

Research Associate

Department of Sustainable Bioproducts

 

Rubin Shmulsky, Mississippi State Univeristy

Professor and Department Head

Department of Sustainable Bioproducts

R. Daniel Seale, Mississippi State University

Thompson Professor of Wood Science & Technology

Department of Sustainable Bioproducts

References

ANSI (2015) O 5.3-2015 Solid sawn-wood crossarms and braces - specifications and dimensions. American National Standards Institute, New York, NY.

ASTM (2013) D 7438-13 Standard practice for field calibration and application of hand-held moisture meters. American Society for Testing and Materials, West Conshohocken, PA.

ASTM (2014) D 198-14 Standard test methods of static tests of lumber in structural sizes. American Society for Testing and Materials, West Conshohocken, PA.

Hu Y (2008) Nondestructive testing of mechanical parameters for wood-based materials. In Proc. 17th World Conference Nondestructive Testing. 25-28 Oct 2008, Shanghai, China.

Ross RJ, Pellerin RF (1994) Nondestructive testing for assessing wood members in structures: A review. Gen. Tech. Rep. FPL-GTR-70 USDA. For. Serv. Forest Prod. Lab., Madison, WI. 40 pp.

Shmulsky R, Seale RD, Snow RD (2006) Analysis of acoustic velocity as a predictor of stiffness and strength in 5-inch-diameter pine dowels. Forest Prod. J. 56(9):53-55.

Verrill SP, Evans J, Kretschmann D, Hatfield C (2014) Reliability implications in wood systems of a bivariate Gaussian-Weibull distribution and the associated univariate pseudo-truncated Weibull. J. of Testing and Evaluation. 42(2):412-419.

Yang BZ, Seale RD, Shmulsky R, Dahlen J, Wang X (2015) Comparison of nondestructive testing methods for evaluating no. 2 southern pine lumber: Part A, modulus of elasticity. Wood Fiber Sci. 47(4):1-10.

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Published

2017-01-26

Issue

Vol. 49 No. 1 (2017)

Section

Technical Notes

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