Nondestructive Evaluation of Corymbia citriodora Logs by Means of the Free Transverse Vibration Test

Abstract

The bending modulus of elasticity has been used as a wood quality predictor due to the good correlation between bending stiffness and strength. In recent years, there has been an increasing use of nondestructive testing techniques based on dynamic tests to assess wood quality. The objective of this study is to evaluate the results obtained with the application of transverse vibration test to measure the bending modulus of elasticity of Corymbia citriodora logs. The approach used estimated the log cylinders with the diameter equal to the diameter measured at half-length. A sample of 38 C. citriodora logs was tested in free transverse vibration and static bending tests, their diameter measured at half-length ranged from 13.6 to 20 cm and the length ranged between 4 and 4.4 m. A strong correlation (\(\hbox {R}^{2} = 0.92\)) was found between static and dynamic bending modulus of elasticity. The transverse vibration test was faster than the static bending test. The results indicate that the free transverse vibration test provides accurate measurements of bending modulus of elasticity of C. citriodora logs.