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Fractometer, photo courtesy IMSUsing a Fractometer for Structural Wood Timber or Beam Damage Assessment
How experts assess the structural integrity of wood framing or wood timbers in-situ

  • POST a QUESTION or COMMENT about methods used in testing structural wood members for damage or decay & the role of micro-drilling tests for in-situ evaluation of structural wood beams, timbers, or other framing members in buildings..

Fractometer test methods for determining the soundness of wood structural members:

With the use of the increment borer one can take a core sample out of a wooden structure with a diameter of 5 mm. This core sample is then used for assessing with the Fractometer Print.

This article series describes the various methods used to test & evaluate the structural integrity of wood-framed buildings where focus is on the condition of structural wood posts, beams and other framing members. We discuss the problems surrounding hidden rot or decay, the presence or absence of moisture or other instrument-detectable clues, and the problem of subjective decisions to replace or not-replace suspect wood structural members.

This article compares using micro-drilling with other methods to screen both standing trees and wood structural elements for hidden damage.

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Fractometer Methods for Wood Structural Member Assessment

Fractometer, photo courtesy IMSPaul Probett, Clinton Craig, Blake Probett, Incodo Forensic Building Specialists [1]

This article series on methods for assessing structural wood rot & damage is adapted & expanded from the author's "An Introduction to Micro-Drilling Technology for N. Z. Structural Timber Assessment" and is used with permission. We [DF] have added comments, some illustrations, and additional article citations. [Click to enlarge any image or illustration]

Properties of fractometer assessment of wood damage

5mm cores required – compression, bending and torsional tests.

Scope = Specific samples only, but comprehensive.

Using a fractometer approach the condition of the wood member is not completed in-situ or on-site.

With the use of the increment borer one can take a core sample out of a wooden structure with a diameter of 5 mm. This core sample is then used for assessing with the Fractometer Print.

A Fractometer Print puts bending load on the core sample that was taken from a wooden structure until it breaks.

The bending break moment and the breaking angle can be determined as can compression strength and other measures.

The Fractometer has been described in IML's instruction manual where bending strength, fiber direction, and related concepts are detailed.

IML is Instrumenta Mechanik Labor System, Wiesloch, Germany. [15].

Note: Above information is copyright, commercially sensitive and is yet to be peer reviewed. It is not to be copied or circulated without the express and written permission of Incodo Limited. Adapted here by InspectaPedia.com, with permission from Incodo 8/5/2012, technical review is in process.

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