Acoustoelastic birefringence effect in wood III: ultrasonic stress determination of wood by acoustoelastic birefringence method

Stress conditions produced in wood were analyzed by means of the acoustoelastic birefringence method. Bending load was applied against a wood beam specimen. Under loading, ultrasonic shear waves were propagated through the breadth direction of the wood beam specimen. The velocities of shear waves polarized in the longitudinal or tangential direction of the wood beam specimen were measured with the sing-around method. Bending stresses were determined by dividing the difference between the acoustic anisotropy and the texture anisotropy by the acoustoelastic birefringence coefficient. Shear stresses were also determined. These stress distributions of the beam specimen were in good agreement with those obtained by the strain gauge method and mechanical calculation.     

Acoustoelastic effect of wood II: Effect of compressive stress on the velocity of ultrasonic longitudinal waves parallel to the transverse direction of the wood

The changes in the velocity of ultrasonic waves propagating in wood parallel to the direction of applied stress are discussed. The ultrasonic mode was longitudinal waves traveling along the direction of applied stress with the compressive load applied parallel to the transverse direction of the wood. The ultrasonic velocities were measured by the sing-around method. The experimental results indicated the existence of an acoustoelastic phenomenon in the transverse direction of the wood. The percent change in the ultrasonic velocity was given as a function of the applied stress. The change in the velocity depended on the species and structural direction of the wood. That is, in the radial direction of hardwood, the ultrasonic velocity increased with increases in compressive stress at the initial stress level of less than 2MPa; it then gradually decreased with increases in stress. A change in velocity from an increase to a decrease was considered a unique phenomenon for wood. In contrast, in the radial direction of softwood and the tangential direction of hardwood, the ultrasonic velocity decreased with increases in stress from the beginning of loading. This phenomenon is also generally observed in metallic materials. The relations between velocity and stress at the initial stress level and between velocity and strain in the range of large deformation are represented by essentially straight lines. The acoustoelastic constants of wood were obtained from these relations at the initial stress level. The absolute values of the constants in the transverse direction of wood were larger than those for metals and were larger than those for the longitudinal direction of wood reported in our previous paper.This research was presented at the 1st Meeting of the Research Society of the Acoustoelastic Measurements in the Japan Society of Non-Destructive Inspection at Osaka, October 1996 and at the 47th Annual Meeting of Japan Wood Research Society at Kochi, April 1997     

Acoustoelastic effect of wood III: effect of applied stresses on the velocity of ultrasonic waves propagating normal to the direction of the applied stress

Changes in the velocity of ultrasonic waves propagating in wood normal to the direction of applied stresses are discussed. The ultrasonic modes considered here are longitudinal waves and shear waves with particle motion along the direction of the applied stress. The ultrasonic velocities in wood were measured by the sing-around method. From the results of the acoustoelastic experiments in wood, changes in the ultrasonic velocities were expressed as a function of the applied stress. For the shear waves, the ultrasonic velocities decreased with an increase in compressive stress from the initial stress level. On the other hand, the ultrasonic velocities under tensile stress increased with an increase in stress at low stress levels and then gradually decreased with further a increase in the stress. In contrast, the longitudinal wave velocities increased with an increase in compressive stress at low stress levels and then decreased with additional increase in the stress. The wave velocities under a tensile stress decreased with an increase in the stress. The proportional relations between velocities and stresses at low stress levels are confirmed, and acoustoelastic constants were obtained from these relations. Their absolute values were smaller than those reported in previous studies but larger than those of metals. The acoustoelastic effect seemed to be almost equivalent on the sensitivity for stress measurement as the strain-gauge method.Part of this research was presented at the 48th annual meeting of the Japan Wood Research Society, Shizuoka, April, 1998     

Acoustoelastic birefringence effect in wood II: influence of texture anisotropy on the polarization direction of shear wave in wood

Ultrasonic shear waves were propagated through the breadth direction of a wood beam which was subjected to a bending load such that it was in a plane-stress state. The oscillation direction of the shear waves with respect to the wood beam axis was varied by rotating an ultrasonic sensor, and the relationship between the shear wave velocity and the oscillation direction was examined. The results indicate that when the oscillation direction of the shear wave corresponds to the tangential direction of the wood beam, the shear wave velocity decreases sharply and the relationship between shear wave velocity and rotation angle tends to become discontinuous. When the oscillation of the shear waves occurs in the anisotropic direction of the wood beam instead of in the direction of principal stress, the shear wave velocity exhibits a peak value. In addition, the polarization direction was found to correspond to the direction of anisotropy of the wood beam according to the theory of acoustoelastic birefringence with respect to plane stress. This indicates that when the acoustoelastic birefringence method is applied to stress measurement of wood, it is appropriate to align the oscillation direction of the shear wave with the principal axial direction of anisotropy in order to carry out ultrasonic measurement.     

Acoustoelastic birefringence effect in wood I: effect of applied stresses on the velocities of ultrasonic shear waves propagating transversely to the stress direction

The velocity changes of ultrasonic shear waves propagating transversely to the applied stress direction in wood were investigated. The wave oscillation directions were parallel and normal to the uniaxially applied stress direction. The velocities of the shear waves for both oscillations decreased as the compressive load increased, and increased as the tensile load increased. The velocity of the normally oscillated shear wave showed smaller change against the stress applied than that of the parallel oscillated wave. The initial birefringence due to the orthotropy of wood was observed without any stress. Velocity changes in the two principally oscillated shear waves were proportional to the stress within the stress range tested. The acoustoelastic birefringence effect was obtained from the velocity difference between the two shear waves. The relative difference between the two velocities (called acoustic anisotropy) was given as a function of the applied stress. The acoustoelastic birefringence constants were obtained from the relationships between the acoustic anisotropy and the applied stress.