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In situ assessment of structural timber using stress-wave measurements

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Abstract

This paper summarizes the test recommendations for in situ assessment of structural timber using stress wave measurements as developed by members of the RILEM Technical Committee AST 215 “In-situ assessment of structural timber”. In the first part, the basic principles, the equipment, and the practical application of stress-wave-based testing using the time-of-flight method are described. A detailed testing procedure provides hands-on information on the execution of in-field stress wave testing. A typical example is given to demonstrate step-by-step on how to evaluate stress wave readings and the health state of the inspected timber member. The latter part of the paper gives a short overview of the use of acoustic tomography and ultrasonic echo methods.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Built Infrastructure Research, University of Technology, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Ulrike Dackermann, Keith Crews & Jianchun Li

  2. Fraunhofer Wilhelm-Klauditz-Institute WKI, Carolo-Wilhelmina University, Braunschweig, Germany

    Bohumil Kasal

  3. Department of Civil, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, University of Trento, Trento, Italy

    Mariapaola Riggio

  4. Rinntech®, Heidelberg, Germany

    Frank Rinn

  5. Department of Wood Science and Department of Civil Engineering, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Thomas Tannert

Authors
  1. Ulrike Dackermann
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  2. Keith Crews
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  3. Bohumil Kasal
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  4. Jianchun Li
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  5. Mariapaola Riggio
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  6. Frank Rinn
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  7. Thomas Tannert
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thomas Tannert.

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The first author of this paper has made the main contribution; the remaining authors are listed in alphabetical order without consideration of their individual contributions.

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Dackermann, U., Crews, K., Kasal, B. et al. In situ assessment of structural timber using stress-wave measurements. Mater Struct 47, 787–803 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-013-0095-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-013-0095-4

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