Abstract:
The present study aims at evaluating the impact of anobiid damage on pine timber
elements. Anobiid attack produces a diffuse damage of the elements with a set of tunnels in random
directions and sizes, thus confusing quantification. Therefore, a method was developed based on
X-ray micro-computed tomography (μ-XCT) to obtain, for naturally infested timber samples, an
empirical correlation between lost material percentage (consumed by beetles) and timber apparent
density (original, before degradation—OTD and residual, after degradation—RTD). The quantified
density loss can then be used in further assessment of the structure. The results of the tests performed
showed high correlation between original apparent density and lost material percentage (r2 = 0.60)
and between residual apparent density and lost material percentage (r2 = 0.83), which confirms
μ-XCT as a valuable tool to the required quantification. The loss of density results can be further
applied on the definition of an assessment method for the evaluation of the residual strength of
anobiids infested timber, thus contributing to reducing unnecessary replacement. The optimized
procedure of the μ-XCT study for infested Maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) is presented and discussed
in this article.
