Predicting the strength of sawn wood by tracheid laser scattering

An industrial laser light scattering scanner, designed to detect the spiral grain angle of logs by the light scattering along the grain, was used on two large samples of Norway spruce (Picea abies (var. Karst)) in various sawn dimensions (approximately 750 pieces). Additional measurements were made by other techniques, such as X-ray scanning, resonance frequency measurement, and various manual measurements. The strength properties of the boards were measured by destructive testing in four-point bending according to European standard. Multivariate methods (PLS) were used to model the relationship between the bending strength of the board (MOR) and the measurements. Based only on the output from the simple tracheid scattering equipment, a model for MOR achieved an R² exceeding 0.3. Combinations with average density or outer shape parameters from log scanning resulted in R² 0.4 and 0.3 respectively, although these parameters alone only accounted for R² 0.2. The results can be used to increase the understanding of strength in wood and in an improved industrial strength-grading process.