Indirect Detection of Internal Defects in Wooden Rafter with Ultrasound

The purpose of this research was development of quantitative ultrasonic test methodology for detecting internal defects in members of ancient wooden building. Connection part between wooden members and/or contacted or hidden part by wall of ceiling or other construction materials make it hard to apply direct way of ultrasonic test. So indirect way of ultrasonic test needed to be applied. Test methodology with newly developed prototype of ultrasonic system was proposed. Homogeneous material with polypropylene was also tested for establishing the criterion. Results showed that TOF(time of flight)-energy and pulse length were found out to be proper ultrasonic parameters for predicting depth of defect in wood different from polypropylene. It was not possible to directly apply prediction equation derived from polypropylene. Newly established prediction equation shows coefficient of determination of 0.73 for wood. Finally, defect of replaced rafter members was predicted with the coefficient of determination of 0.32. Various aspects of ultrasound propagation in wood including anisotropy need to be carefully considered to raise up the prediction accuracy.