A mechanism of micro-scale moisture transfer in wood using X-ray micro-CT and image processing techniques

Research Project

Project/Area Number	15H05628
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Research Field	Wood science
Research Institution	Forest Research and Management Organization
Principal Investigator	Watanabe Ken 国立研究開発法人森林研究・整備機構, 森林総合研究所, 主任研究員等 (90582734)
Project Period (FY)	2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 2017)
Budget Amount *help	¥13,260,000 (Direct Cost: ¥10,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥3,060,000) Fiscal Year 2017: ¥3,250,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥750,000) Fiscal Year 2016: ¥6,370,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥1,470,000) Fiscal Year 2015: ¥3,640,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥840,000)
Keywords	木材 / 水分分布 / 非破壊計測 / マイクロフォーカスX線CT / X線CTイメージング / 水分移動 / 自由水
Outline of Final Research Achievements	Micro-scale moisture transfer in wood was investigated using X-ray micro-CT and image processing techniques. It was observed that free water transferred in a liquid form from cell to cell. Although it is commonly said that the density of cell wall in latewood has the same density as that in earlywood, the present analysis of CT images showed that the density of cell wall in latewood is lower than that in earlywood. This finding may have an impact on the research of wood anatomy and tree growth.