Acoustic evaluation of wood quality with a non-destructive method in standing trees: a first survey in Italy

doi:10.3832/ifor2065-010

Acoustic evaluation of wood quality with a non-destructive method in standing trees: a first survey in Italy

Andrea R Proto⁽¹⁾ , Giorgio Macrì⁽¹⁾, Vincenzo Bernardini⁽²⁾, Diego Russo⁽¹⁾, Giuseppe Zimbalatti⁽¹⁾

iForest - Biogeosciences and Forestry, Volume 10, Issue 4, Pages 700-706 (2017)
doi: https://doi.org/10.3832/ifor2065-010
Published: Jul 17, 2017 - Copyright © 2017 SISEF

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Research and development efforts are currently underway worldwide to examine the potential use of a wide range of non-destructive technologies (NDT) for evaluating wood and wood-based materials, from the assessment of standing trees to in-place structures. For this purpose, acoustic velocity by the Fakopp time of flight (TOF) tool was used to estimate the influence of four thinning treatments performed in Southern Italy. The objective of the study was to determine if the effects of silvicultural practices on wood quality can be identified using acoustic measurement to assess the MOEd of standing trees with non-destructive method in Calabrian pine (Pinus nigra Arnold subsp. calabrica). Four hundred and fifty standing trees from four sites were non-destructively tested using a time-of-flight acoustic wave technique. The thinning trials were conducted on 60-year-old plantations of Calabrian pine in four plots under different treatments: Control (T), light thinning (A), intermediate thinning (B) and heavy thinning (C). Statistical analysis demonstrated significant stress wave time differences between the stands with moderate thinning (A and B) and those with heavy thinning (C). The results showed that tree diameter has significant influence on acoustic wave measurements and a valid relationship exists between diameter at breast height and tree velocity. The results of these studies proved that the stress wave technique can be successfully applied on standing trees.

Keywords

Modulus of Elasticity, Wood Density, Thinning, Calabrian Pine

Authors’ address

(1)

Department of Agriculture, Mediterranean University of Reggio Calabria, Feo di Vito 89122, Reggio Calabria (Italy)

(2)

Italian Council for Agricultural Research and Economics - Mediterranean Forestry Research Unit (CREA - SAM) - C.da Li Rocchi, Vermicelli, 87036 Rende, CS (Italy)

Corresponding author

Andrea R Proto
andrea.proto@unirc.it

Citation

Proto AR, Macrì G, Bernardini V, Russo D, Zimbalatti G (2017). Acoustic evaluation of wood quality with a non-destructive method in standing trees: a first survey in Italy. iForest 10: 700-706. - doi: 10.3832/ifor2065-010

Academic Editor

Giacomo Goli

Paper history

Received: Mar 23, 2016
Accepted: Apr 18, 2017

First online: Jul 17, 2017
Publication Date: Aug 31, 2017
Publication Time: 3.00 months

Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

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