Comparison of NDE techniques for assessing mechanical properties of unjointed and finger-jointed lumber

Abstract

Abstract Non-destructive evaluation (NDE) methods are common for grading structural lumber with static bending as the traditional NDE method for strength. More recently, longitudinal and transverse vibration techniques have also been proposed for grading lumber. In this study, unjointed and finger-jointed sawn lumber has been evaluated by these traditional and relatively new NDE methods. In total, 188 pieces of 38 mm×89 mm black spruce lumber were tested. Of these, 40 were unjointed, 47 had 2–3 finger joints, and 101 had 5–7 finger joints. The main objective was to evaluate the reliability of the various NDE techniques in predicting the bending stiffness and tensile strength of finger-jointed lumber with different number of finger joints. Results show that all NDE methods provide stiffness values of unjointed and finger-jointed lumber that correlate well with laboratory measured static bending stiffness with R2 values ranging from 0.76 to 0.97. Moreover, lumber with finger joints has lower bending stiffness than unjointed lumber. Based on the correlation coefficients, there is no evidence that finger joints affect the precision of the strength prediction by NDE methods.