at Forest Products Laboratory
Contact Information
Forest Products Laboratory
One Gifford Pinchot Drive
Madison, WI 53726
Phone: (608) 231-9200
Fax: (608) 231-9592
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Partnership Profile

Sound waves reveal wood quality in logs and standing trees

fpl Researchers at the Forest Products Laboratory have extensively studied techniques using sound waves for assessing the mechanical and physical properties of wood and wood-based materials. Called non-destructive evaluation, or NDE, the techniques involve measuring the speed at which sound waves travel through logs or standing trees to determine the quality of the wood before it is sawn.

FPL researchers, working cooperatively with Fibre-gen, a New Zealand company, developed several tools on the market today that use acoustic, laser, and ultrasound technologies to evaluate the strength and soundness of the wood in logs and standing trees.

The Director HM200TM uses a pulse-echo measurement to assess logs and gives landowners and loggers a new way to grade and market logs by sorting and matching them to manufacturer and customer demands for stiffness and strength of products. The technology is beneficial when integrated into log supply and processing decision-making.

The Director ST300 utilizes several technologies (ultrasound, lasers, and impact-induced stress waves) to assess standing timber and allows forest managers to determine the quality of wood without cutting down the tree. The technology can be easily integrated with pre-harvest and earlier stand assessments, which aids in assessing mature stands for marketing, harvest planning and scheduling, assisting in planning silvicultural operations in immature stands, and in tree breeding operations.