Exploring visible spectrum wavelengths in light transmission through wood material

Abstract

Wood is a multiscale heterogeneous natural composite material with properties depending on its growing conditions and its genetic heritage. This variability is challenging for industries that work to perform homogeneous and reliable products. In industry, different non-destructive testing methods are in use to classify, grade, and select wood products to optimize their usage. Among them, the use of lasers to detect fiber orientation with different wavelengths. This orientation significantly influences the mechanical behavior of wood, including stress limits and stiffness. According to our knowledge, the use of laser diffusion still is limited to grain angle measurement. Our objective in this paper is to realize transmission light scattering maps for wood samples from several wood species (poplar, oak, Douglas fir, beech), and then identify the most suitable wavelength to study light diffusion in wood, depending on the property that will be measured. A supercontinuum laser is used over a wavelength range from 500 to 800 nm, allowing precise adjustment of the wavelengths. It was found that near-infrared light better scatters in the studied wood species than lower wavelength. However, the wavelength that gives the best contrast between earlywood and latewood depends on the sample studied and is not necessarily in the near infrared rays.