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1
2 Longitudinal Vibration Test for the Use of a Circular
3 Truncated Cone as a Log Model of Japanese Cedar
4
5 Yoshitaka Kubojima,* Yukari Matsumura, and Youki Suzuki
6
7 The appropriate diameter ratio of log top and butt ends to use the round
8 bar as a log model for estimating the density and Youngs modulus of a
9 log was investigated. Square timbers of Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria
10 japonica D. Don) were used as specimens and were machined into circular
11 truncated cones. A longitudinal vibration test was performed to obtain the
12 Youngs moduli of the square timbers and the circular truncated cones.
13 The Youngs moduli were calculated using the circular truncated cone
14 model and the round bar model. The ratios (circular truncated cone to
15 square timber) of densities and of Youngs moduli were approximately 1
16 for the circular truncated cones. Hence, the circular truncated cone was
17 effective for estimating the densities and Youngs moduli of logs. The
18 ratios (round bar to square timber) of densities and of Youngs moduli
19 increased as the diameters of the top ends decreased. The round bar was
20 useful as a log model for actual logs.
21
22 Keywords: Circular truncated cone; Log; Longitudinal vibration test; Round bar; Youngs modulus
23
24 Contact information: Department of Wood Properties and Processing, Forestry and Forest Products
25 Research Institute, 1 Matsunosato, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8687 Japan;
26 *Corresponding author: kubojima@ffpri.affrc.go.jp
27
28
29 INTRODUCTION
30
31 The elastic modulus of a timber specimen must frequently be determined using
32 nondestructive testing methods before strength tests are conducted on structural elements
33 and full-size structural timber. Such cases tend to involve vibration tests that are performed
34 by tapping a specimen. Generally, a longitudinal vibration test is used, as well as a flexural
35 vibration test (Sonoda 2014), and the longitudinal vibration test has been applied to logs.
36 According to the Japanese Agricultural Standard (JAS) for logs, a log is regarded
37 as a round bar whose diameter is the average of the diameter of the top end and the diameter
38 of the butt end (JAS 2016). However, the shape of a log is nearer to a circular truncated
39 cone than a round bar. It is a concern that a log cannot be regarded as a round bar when the
40 difference between the diameter of the top end and that of the butt end is large. The effects
41 of the tapering of a log and the log diameter on the resonance frequency of the bending
42 vibration of a tapered log have been studied by using a transfer-matix method (Sobue 1990).
43 Hence, the appropriate diameter ratio of the top and butt ends of Japanese cedar for the use
44 of a round bar as a log model was examined.
45
46
47 EXPERIMENTAL
48
49 Theory

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50 A circular truncated cone was prepared by rotating segment AB, shown in Fig. 1,
51 about the x axis. The equation for the segment AB is:
2 1
52 = + = + 1 (1 2 ) (1)

53

54
55
56 Fig. 1. Segment AB, used to prepare a circular truncated cone
57
58 The cross-sectional area is:
2 1 2
59 () = ( + )2 = ( + 1 ) (2)

60 The differential equation for longitudinal vibration of the circular truncated cone
61 having radii r1 and r2 and length l is,
2 1
62 2
= (() ) (3)
()
63 where x, u(x, t), t, E, and are the distance along the bar, the longitudinal displacement,
64 time, Youngs modulus, and density, respectively. Solving Eq. 3 results in Eq. 4,
1
65 (, ) = 1 sin ( n + 2 ) sin n (4)
+
66 where C1 and C2 are constants, (equal to 2f, where f is the resonance frequency) is the
67 angular frequency, and the subscript n is the mode number.
68 For a free-free condition,

= 0: = 0
69 { (5)

= : = 0

70 Thus, the following frequency equation can be obtained,
( 1)2 n
71 tan n = (6)
( 1)2 + n2
72 where
2
73 = (0 1), (7)
1
n
74 n = , (8)

75 and

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76 = (velocity). (9)

77 The Youngs modulus can be determined as follows: Substituting the experimental
78 k value into Eq. 6 gives mn. In this study, given various k values, Eq. 6 was solved using
79 Mathematica (version 10.4J, Wolfram Research, Champaign, IL, USA) software.
80 Substituting the calculated mn, the measured resonance frequency, and the measured length
81 into Eq. 8 gives c. Substituting the calculated c, the measured dimensions, and the
82 measured mass into Eq. 9 gives the Youngs modulus.
83 The volume of the circular truncated cone is:

84 = (12 + 1 2 + 22 ) = 12 ( 2 + + 1) (10)
3 3
85 Then, the Youngs modulus of the circular truncated cone is,
2
n 2 3 n 2
86 = = ( ) = ( ) (11)
n 12 ( 2 + + 1) n
87 where W is weight.
88 If S(x) is constant, then Eq. 3 is as follows:
2 2
89 = (12)
2 2
90 sin n = 0 (Free free condition) (13)
91 n = n (14)
92 Substituting k = 1 (r1 = r2) into Eq. 6 gives the following equation:
93 tan = 0 (15)
94 Equation 15 also gives Eq. 14. The Youngs modulus is calculated by the following
95 equation:
2
n 2
96 = = ( ) (16)
n
97 In contrast, the volume of the round bar via the JAS method is:
1 + 2 2
98 = ( ) = 12 ( + 1)2 (17)
2 4
99 Then, the Youngs modulus of the round bar is:
n 2 4 n 2
100 = 2 = ( ) = ( ) (18)
n 12 ( + 1)2 n
101
102 Materials
103 Air-dried Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica D. Don.) squared lumber without
104 pith was used for the specimens, which were 1200 mm (longitudinal direction) 110 mm
105 (radial direction) 110 mm (tangential direction). Seven specimens were used. Circular
106 truncated cones with the following combinations of diameters d1 and d2 (in mm) were
107 prepared from the square timber: (d1, d2) = (100, 30), (100, 40), (100, 50), (100, 60), (100,
108 70), (100, 80), and (100, 90). The length of the circular truncated cones was 1000 mm.
109 The specimens were conditioned at 20 C and 65% relative humidity (R. H.) until
110 their weight was constant. The tests were conducted under 20 C and 65% R. H.
111
112 Methods
113 Longitudinal vibration test

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114 To obtain the Youngs modulus, free-free longitudinal vibration tests were
115 conducted using the following procedure: The test bar was placed on a small sponge near
116 its center point. Vibration was initiated in the longitudinal direction at one end with a
117 hammer, while the first-mode vibration of the specimen was detected with a microphone
118 at the other end. The signal was processed through a fast Fourier transform (FFT) digital
119 signal analyzer (Multi-Purpose FFT Analyzer CF-5220, Ono-Sokki, Co., Ltd., Yokohama,
120 Japan) to observe high-resolution resonance frequencies. A diagram of the experimental
121 setup is shown in Fig. 2.
122

123
124
125 Fig. 2. Diagram of the experimental setup
126
127
128 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
129
130 The densities and Youngs moduli of the square timbers are shown in Table 1. The
131 Youngs moduli were obtained from Eq. 16.
132
133 Table 1. Densities and Youngs Moduli of the Square Timbers
Diameter of Top End When Density (kg/m3) Youngs Modulus (GPa)
Machined into a Circular
Truncated Cone (mm)
30 285 4.85
40 442 8.36
50 331 7.37
60 407 10.83
70 410 8.10
80 383 7.53
90 415 11.31
134
135 Table 2 shows the densities and Youngs moduli of the circular truncated cones and
136 round bars. The ratios (circular truncated cone to square timber) of densities and of
137 Youngs moduli were around 1 for the circular truncated cones. Hence, the circular
138 truncated cone was effective for estimating the densities and Youngs moduli of logs.
139 However, the ratios (round bar to square timber) of densities and of Youngs moduli
140 increased as the diameters of the top ends decreased.
141
142
143

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144 Table 2. Densities and Youngs moduli of the Circular Truncated Cones and
145 Round Bars
Diameter of Density Ratio of Youngs Modulus Ratio of Youngs Moduli
Top End (kg/m3) Densities (GPa) (vs. ST)
(mm) (vs. ST)
CTC RB CTC RB CTC RB CTC RB
30 281 308 0.99 1.08 5.01 6.97 1.03 1.44
40 429 455 0.97 1.03 8.73 10.72 1.04 1.28
50 335 347 1.01 1.05 7.73 8.79 1.05 1.14
60 405 413 1.00 1.02 11.09 11.90 1.02 1.10
70 392 397 0.96 0.97 7.77 8.08 0.96 1.00
80 382 383 1.00 1.00 8.02 8.12 1.07 1.08
90 408 409 0.98 0.99 11.23 11.27 0.99 1.00
CTC: Circular truncated cone, RB: Round bar, ST: Square timber
146
147 When the circular truncated cone is used as a log model, it is necessary to solve Eq.
148 6 for each k. Because solving Eq. 6 is not easy, using a round bar model is suitable for the
149 actual cases.
150 A relationship between the ratio of densities and k, and a relationship between the
151 ratio of Youngs moduli and k, are considered:
152 The ratio of densities (round bar to circular truncated cone) RB / CTC is expressed
153 by the following equation using Eqs. 10 and 17:
RB 4( 2 + + 1)
154 = (19)
CTC 3( + 1)2
155 The ratio of Youngs moduli of the first mode (round bar to circular truncated cone)
156 ERB / ECTC is expressed by the following equation using Eqs. 11 and 18:
2
RB 4( 2 + + 1) 1 ()
157 = ( ) (20)
CTC 3( + 1)2
158 The ratios RB / CTC and ERB / ECTC were plotted against k, as shown in Fig. 3. For
159 RB / CTC 1.1, k 0.3; and for RB / CTC 1.05, k 0.45. For ERB / ECTC 1.1, k 0.55;
160 and for ERB / ECTC 1.05, k 0.66.
161 Several reports have been published with data for the diameters of the top ends and
162 the butt ends of Japanese cedar wood (Matsumura et al. 2013; Matsumura 2014; Goto et
163 al. 2017). Because many samples were used in Matsumuras research (2014), its data were
164 used here. The diameters of the top ends and the butt ends are shown in Table 3. The
165 minimum, average (standard deviation), and maximum k for the logs used in Matsumura
166 (2014), and shown in Table 3, are 0.72, 0.88 (0.042), and 0.95, respectively, for the large
167 diameter logs and 0.76, 0.87 (0.036), and 0.95, respectively, for the middle diameter logs.
168 For k = 0.72, RB / CTC and ERB / ECTC were 1.01 and 1.03, respectively. These results
169 suggested that the round bar can be used as a log model to estimate the densities and
170 Youngs moduli of actual logs.
171
172
173
174
175
176

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177 Table 3. Diameters of the Top Ends and the Butt Ends of Japanese Cedar
178 (Matsumura 2014)
230 Logs of Large Diameter 248 Logs of Middle Diameter
Top End Butt End Top End Butt End
Mean (cm) 35.2 40.1 25.5 29.2
SD (cm) 2.76 3.59 2.32 2.91
Minimum (cm) 30.3 33.4 19.3 23.0
Maximum (cm) 43.8 51.0 29.7 39.0
179

180
181
182 Fig. 3. Relationships of RB / CTC vs. k and ERB / ECTC vs. k
183
184
185 CONCLUSIONS
186
187 1. The ratios (circular truncated cone to square timber) of densities and of Youngs moduli
188 were approximately 1. Hence, the circular truncated cone was effective for estimating
189 the densities and Youngs moduli of the logs.
190 2. The ratios (round bar to square timber) of densities and of Youngs moduli increased
191 as the diameters of the top ends decreased.
192 3. The round bar can be used as a log model for actual logs.
193
194
195 REFERENCES CITED
196
197 Goto, T., Nakayama, S., and Furuno, T. (2017). Comparison of wood qualities and
198 strength properties between pithless timber and boxed heart timber of sugi planted in
199 Shimane prefecture: Bending performances of square timber and flat square timber,
200 Wood Industry 72(7), 262-267.
201 Japanese Agricultural Standard (JAS) (2016). Forestry products: Log, Japanese
202 Agricultural Standards Association, Tokyo, Japan.

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203 Matsumura, Y. (2014). Log specifications and wood properties of large-diameter logs,
204 Wood Industry 69(11), 486-491.
205 Matsumura, Y., Ikami, Y., Murata, K., and Matsumura, J. (2013). Quality of squared
206 lumber without pith sawn from large-diameter sugi (Cryptomeria japonica) logs,
207 Mokuzai Gakkaishi 59(3), 138-145.
208 Sobue, N. (1990). Correlation factors of the resonance frequency for tapering and shear
209 deformation of a log in flexural vibration, Mokuzai Gakkaishi 36(9), 760-764.
210 Sonoda, S. (2014). Acoustic vibrations and their higher harmonics for non-destructive
211 measurement techniques, Wood Industry 69(4), 183-186.
212
213
214 Article submitted: September 5, 2017;

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