Systems and methods for predicting the bending stiffness of wood products

A method for calculating the average bending stiffness in a dried wood product, comprising:

• emitting radiation in the direction of the wood product transverse to the longitudinal axis thereof;
• detecting radiation that passes through the wood product;
• determining the density of the wood product based on the detected radiation;
• inducing a sound wave into the wood product;
• sensing the induced sound wave;
• determining the velocity of the induced sound wave based on the sensed induced sound wave;
• and
• calculating the average bending stiffness of the wood product based on the determined density and determined velocity.

A system for non-destructively calculating average bending stiffness in a dried wood product, comprising:

• a density measurement sub-system including a radiation source positioned transverse to the longitudinal axis of the wood product and a radiation detector positioned on the side of the wood product opposite the radiation source, the radiation detector generating signals indicative of detected radiation, wherein the generated signals are processed to calculate the density of the wood product;
• and
• a velocity measurement sub-system including a sound wave device that induces a sound wave in the wood product and a receiving sensor that measures the sound wave in the wood product and generates signals indicative thereof, wherein the receiving sensor generated signals are processed to calculate the velocity of the induced sound wave;
• wherein the average bending stiffness in the wood product is calculated based on the calculated sound wave velocity from the velocity measurement sub-system and the density measurement from the density measurement sub-system.