Journal article
Comparison of non-destructive tools for measuring MOE of southern pine trees
European Journal of Wood and Wood Products, Vol.84(3), pp.1-15
2026
Abstract
Various non-destructive evaluation (NDE) technologies increasingly used to assess log stiffness and support sorting, segregation and processing decisions. However, comprehensive comparative evaluations of various NDE tools across the wood value chain remain limited. Therefore, this study compared several NDE methods for estimating modulus of elasticity (MOE) in southern pine grown in Queensland, Australia, at three processing stages: standing trees pre-harvest, felled logs post-harvest, and boards produced from those logs. Standing trees measurement included ultrasound MOE assessment on increment cores (USMOE) and Director ST300 (ST300_MOE) and IML-Resi PD-400 resistance drilling (Resi_MOE). Felled log measurements were obtained using Beam Identification by Non-destructive Grading (BING_MOE) and the resonance acoustic tool Hitman HM200 (HM200_MOE). These measurements were then related to log MOE, log density, and the average MOE and modulus of rupture of boards cut from the same trees. Finally, log stiffness measurement tools were compared in terms of deployability, efficiency, and predictive power. NDE tools applied to standing trees pre-harvest generally exhibited lower predictive power in estimating log and board MOE than tools applied to felled logs. For log MOE, HM200_MOE showed the strongest relationship with BING_MOE (
0.78) followed by USMOE (
), ST300_MOE (
), and Resi_MOE (
). BING_MOE explained the highest variability in the average board MOE (
), followed by USMOE (
), HM200_MOE (
), ST300_MOE (
), and Resi_MOE (
). These results highlight a clear trade-off between predictive performance and operational practicality. BING and HM200 provided better accuracy and precision, but unsuitable for standing tree assessment. Among the standing trees methods, USMOE provided best balance between precision and accuracy and potential field use but are slower and more expensive. ST300 and Resi were faster and more practical for pre-harvest sorting their lower predictive performance underscores the need for improved calibration or modelling. Overall, tool selection depends on the required balance between predictive performance, operational efficiency, sampling requirement and cost.
Details
- Title
- Comparison of non-destructive tools for measuring MOE of southern pine trees
- Authors
- Chandan Kumar (Corresponding Author) - Department of Primary IndustriesVilius Gendvilas - University of the Sunshine CoastHenri Bailleres - Bioeconomy Science InstituteIan Last - HQPlantationsDominic Kain - HQPlantationsGeoffrey M. Downes - Forest Quality Pty LtdDavid J. Lee - University of the Sunshine Coast
- Publication details
- European Journal of Wood and Wood Products, Vol.84(3), pp.1-15
- Publisher
- Springer
- Date published
- 2026
- DOI
- 10.1007/s00107-026-02426-0
- ISSN
- 1436-736X
- Copyright note
- This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
- Data Availability
- Data can be made available upon request.
- Grant note
- The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support for the project funded by Forest and Wood Products Australia, DAF Forest Industries, the University of the Sunshine Coast and industry partners: HQPlantations, Forest Corporation New South Wales, Hancock Victoria Plantations and Hyne Timber Pty Ltd.
- Organisation Unit
- Forest Industries Research Centre
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991241199302621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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