USE OF X-RAYS AND QGIS® SOFTWARE TO EVALUATE DETERIORATED WOOD IN MARINE ENVIRONMENTS

Tarcila Rosa Da Silva Lins,Ana Claudia De Paula Müller,Paulo Da Cunha Lana,Márcio Pereira Da Rocha,Marks Melo Moura

doi:10.5380/rf.v51i4.74582

Tarcila Rosa Da Silva Lins, Ana Claudia De Paula Müller + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5380/rf.v51i4.74582

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Abstract

The objective of this work was to propose a nondestructive method to identify and quantify the damage caused by marine borers in wood structures. First, a test specimen was submerged in an estuarine environment for 120 days. Radiography was then applied to detect and evaluate the attack by marine borers. Two methods of evaluation were performed with the images to compare them. The first assessment was carried out using the QGIS® geoprocessing program for the treatment of images as a tool, which made it possible to identify and quantify the damage (in cm²). The second evaluation followed the method indicated in EN 275 (1992), which suggests a visual assessment, based on X-ray images, classified according to a template provided in the standard. Although the method using the image treatment by QGIS® is an estimate, it has the advantage of providing a numerical result, in contrast to the visual analysis, which is not as accurate due to its subjectivity. Besides this, the treatment of the images allowed good visualization of the damage to the specimen. The findings indicated that QGIS® can be used as a complement to the method proposed by EN 275 (1992).

Highlights

Wood is commonly used to support structures in marine environments due to the ease of manufacturing/constructing and maintaining vessels, port structures and infrastructure in general (Borges, 2014)
Wood suffers from low durability when submerged in brackish and marine waters because of its susceptibility to xylophagous organisms such as marine borers. These borers are divided into two large groups: mollusks and crustaceans (Kollmann & Côté, 1968)
The same authors reported that the genera Teredo sp. and Bankia sp. (Mollusca: Teredinidae) cause severe damage due to their intense action of destroying wood in marine environments. These mollusks penetrate the wood at the end of their larval stage and begin boring in the adult stage

Summary

Introduction

Wood is commonly used to support structures in marine environments due to the ease of manufacturing/constructing and maintaining vessels, port structures and infrastructure in general (Borges, 2014). Despite these advantages, wood suffers from low durability when submerged in brackish and marine waters because of its susceptibility to xylophagous organisms such as marine borers. (Mollusca: Teredinidae) cause severe damage due to their intense action of destroying wood in marine environments. These mollusks penetrate the wood at the end of their larval stage and begin boring in the adult stage. Infestation is rarely noticeable on the wood surface since the holes are small, but the action of the borers can cause

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