Mechanical properties estimation by non-destructive testing of Irish hardwood round timber from thinnings for construction purposes

Abstract

Thinning involves the removal of competitors of high quality trees, and trees for extraction racks, all to favour the growth of the selected trees. Many felled trees are small-diameter and in Ireland hardwood thinnings are mainly used for energy production (DORAN 2012; MOCKLER 2013) or for wood-based panels or in the pulp industry (CAMPION AND SHORT 2016). Since the 1990's the Irish Government has been encouraging private owners to combine agricultural and forest commercial activities. Grant aid was initially provided each year for the first 20 years (nowadays 15) in order to compensate the loss of agricultural land use. Furthermore, the first and second hardwood thinning is also grant aided. There is commercial value in seeking to use hardwood thinnings in higher value-added end uses as structural components within the construction industry and to develop its volume use in local rural industry (WOLFE AND MOSELEY 2000; CUMBO ET AL. 2004; GORMAN ET AL. 2016). The Exploitation And Realisation of Thinnings from Hardwoods (EARTH) project aims to investigate potential added-value uses of hardwood thinnings and develop a grading system for sorting into different classes, estimating mechanical properties using non-destructive testing (NDT).