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Journal of Wood Science

Official Journal of the Japan Wood Research Society

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Evaluation of moisture content distribution in wood by soft X-ray imaging

Journal of Wood Science volume 55, pages 69–73 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

A technique for nondestructive evaluation of moisture content distribution in Japanese cedar (sugi) during drying using a newly developed soft X-ray digital microscope was investigated. Radial, tangential, and cross-sectional samples measuring 100 × 100 × 10 mm were cut from green sugi wood. Each sample was dried in several steps in an oven and upon completion of each step, the mass was recorded and a soft X-ray image was taken. The relationship between moisture content and the average grayscale value of the soft X-ray image at each step was linear. In addition, the linear regressions overlapped each other regardless of the sample sections. These results showed that soft X-ray images could accurately estimate the moisture content. Applying this relationship to a small section of each sample, the moisture content distribution was estimated from the image differential between the soft X-ray pictures obtained from the sample in question and the same sample in the oven-dried condition. Moisture content profi les for 10-mm-wide parts at the centers of the samples were also obtained. The shapes of the profiles supported the evaluation method used in this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biomaterial Sciences Department, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8657, Japan

    Takashi Tanaka & Satoshi Shida

  2. Department of Wood Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    Stavros Avramidis

Authors
  1. Takashi Tanaka
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  2. Stavros Avramidis
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  3. Satoshi Shida
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Takashi Tanaka.

Additional information

Part of this work was presented at the 57th Annual Meeting of the Japan Wood Research Society, Hiroshima, August 2007

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Tanaka, T., Avramidis, S. & Shida, S. Evaluation of moisture content distribution in wood by soft X-ray imaging. J Wood Sci 55, 69–73 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10086-008-0997-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10086-008-0997-x

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