STRESS WAVE SCANNING FOR IN-PLACE STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY OF WOOD COMPONENTS

PHASE I FUNDS ARE SOUGHT FOR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OF SCANNING SONIC AND ULTRASONIC STRESS WAVE METHODS FOR DETECTION OF FLAWS AND DETERIORATION IN WOODEN COMPONENTS OF BRIDGES, BUILDINGS AND OTHER STRUCTURES. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL INNOVATIVELY COMBINE RAPID SCANNING TECHNOLOGIES TO BE DEVELOPED FOR MEASUREMENT OF COMPRESSION, SHEAR AND STRESS WAVE ENERGY WITH PC-BASE INSTRUMENT DATA ACQUISITION AND ANALYSIS. THE NONDESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION (NDE) SYSTEM ENVISIONED HEREIN WILL PROVIDE VIRTUALLY CONTINUOUS TEST COVERAGE OF WOODEN COMPONENTS RAPIDLY WITH GRAPHICAL DISPLAYS THAT INDICATE DAMAGED, DETERIORATED ZONES. EXISTING ULTRASONIC PULSE VELOCITY AND SONIC METHODS USED FOR EVALUATION OF IN-PLACE WOODEN COMPONENTS ARE ALL PERFORMED ON A POINT-BY-POINT BASIS. THE APPLICATIONS OF SUCH NDE METHODS ARE THUS LIMITED TO CRITICAL STRUCTURES BECAUSE OF THE TIME REQUIRED TO PERFORM THE TESTING. THE ANTICIPATED SUCCESS OF THIS PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL RESULT IN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE INCREASES IN STRESS WAVE NDE WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOURCE/RECEIVER SYSTEMS THAT PERMIT RAPID SCANNING NONDESTRUCTIVE EVALUATION (NDE) OF IN-PLACE WOOD STRUCTURES. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH SHOULD RESULT IN SCANNING TECHNOLOGY WHICH WOULD ENABLE COST-EFFECTIVE NDE INVESTIGATION OF A WIDE RANGE OF STRUCTURES MADE FROM WOOD PRODUCTS.