No abstract

Background To ensure the safety of trees, two NDT (nondestructive testing) techniques, electric resistance tomography and stress wave tomography, were employed to quantitatively detect and characterize the internal decay of standing trees. Comparisons between those two techniques were done to make full use of the individual capability for decay detection. Methods Eighty trees (40 Manchurian ash and 40 Populus simonii) were detected, then wood increment cores were obtained from each cross disc trial. The Dt, which was defined as the value determined by the mass loss ratio of each wood core, was regarded as the true severity of decay. Using ordinary least-squares regression to analyze the relationship between Dt and De (De was defined as the severity of decay determined by electric resistance tomography) and between Dt and Ds (Ds was defined as the severity of decay determined by stress wave tomography). Results The results showed that both methods could estimate the severity of decay in trees. In terms of different stages of decay, when Dt < 30%, De had a strong positive correlation with Dt (R2 = 0.677, P < 0.01), while, when Dt ≥ 30%, Ds had a significant positive correlation relationship with Dt (R2 = 0.645, P < 0.01). Conclusion Electric resistance tomography was better than stress wave tomography for testing in the early stages of decay, while stress wave tomography can be used effectively in the late stage of decay. It is suggested that each technique can be used in the practice of internal decay testing of standing trees based on decay stages and operating conditions.

In order to use the electrical resistance method to accurately and timely detect and evaluate the internal decay defects of living trees, the effects of the seasonal temperature and moisture content on the electrical resistance of standing trees were investigated. At the Northeast Forestry University Experimental Forest Farm, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province of China, Populus simonii Populus simonii Carr. and Larix gmelinii (Rupr.) Rupr. were selected as the objects and the electrical resistance of standing trees was tested through different seasons from December 2016 to December 2017. Meanwhile, the effects of changes in the seasonal temperatures (−20 to −10 • C, −10 to −5 • C, −5 to 0 • C, 0 to 5 • C, 5 to 10 • C, 10 to 15 • C, 15 to 25 • C) as well as changes in the moisture content (MC) (Populus simonii, MC ≥ 103%; Larix gmelinii, MC ≥ 77.5%) on the electrical resistance in the cross-sections of living trees were studied. The influence of temperature at different moisture contents, the moisture content at different temperatures, and their combined effects on electrical resistance were analyzed, following which a regression model was also established. The obtained results indicated that ambient temperature had a significant effect on the average value of electrical resistance in the cross-section of living trees when temperatures were below the freezing point. There was a sudden discontinuity near the freezing point, and logR (logarithm value of electrical resistance) in the cross-sections of sound trees and decayed trees changed in a similar trend with variations in the temperature. While the effect of moisture content on logR in the cross-sections of threes was insignificant at different temperatures because of the moisture content above FSP (fiber saturation point). It indicated that the temperature and moisture content had interactive effects on logR in the cross-sections. The binary linear regression model between moisture content, temperature, and logR was highly fitted with a correlation coefficient (R 2 ) higher than 0.8. The outcome of this investigation indicates that when non-destructive testing is performed on living trees using electrical resistance at different seasonal temperatures, the measured results need to consider both the temperature and moisture content. For practical work, it is not recommended to consider testing living trees near the freezing point temperature using the electrical resistive tomography. Below the freezing point, the electrical resistance changes with temperature greatly relative to the normal temperature. Therefore, when performing the detection of electrical resistance, it is necessary to calibrate the effects of temperature

There have been limited efforts to investigate the association between wood decay and electrical resistance; consequently, we have examined the change in the electrical resistance of wood progressively decayed by brown-rot fungi to elucidate the effect of the degree of decay. The rate of mass loss of wood was used as an indicator of the degree of fungal decay. The changes in the moisture content and ion concentrations were measured at various decay stages. The results showed a significant difference in the electrical resistances of sound wood and fungal-treated wood after 24 weeks. The electrical resistance significantly decreased with the exposure time. The degree of decay increased as the mass loss increased, resulting in the severe breakdown of cell walls and the accumulation of fungal mycelia. Empirical models related to the rate of mass loss and the percent decrease in the electrical resistance were established. The moisture content and cation concentrations increased to various degrees in decayed wood. This increase in the cation concentration was considered to play a dominant role in the decrease in the electrical resistance. The study results provide valuable information for developing an electrical resistance based method coupled with ion content measurements for incipient wood decay detection.