| NDT Toolkit | THOR Pole Tester | PortaSCAN XBS | WoodScan | RLS Meter | MRUT |
The design of the PortaSCAN XBS® is aimed at safety, simplicity, speed and portability for testing your timber structures.
For timber, the PortaSCAN XBS® is a portable density gauge to identify variations in wood density. It is a safe, quick and simple tool to assist inspectors in understanding what lies beneath the surface of the timber they are examining.
- Safe
- Fast
- Flexible
- Portable
- User-Friendly
- Non-Destructive
The design of the PortaSCAN XBS® is aimed at safety, simplicity, speed and portability for testing your timber structures.
For timber, the PortaSCAN XBS® is a portable density gauge to identify variations in wood density. It is a safe, quick and simple tool to assist inspectors in understanding what lies beneath the surface of the timber they are examining.
This measurable effect provides an average density variation to a depth of at least 100mm meaning even in a pole of 450mm diameter it surveys at least 91% of the strength area of the timber.
The output is immediately available to the inspector and is able to be recorded for later retrieval. This means that where a defect is located the operator can focus on that aspect to gain an appreciation for it size, potential effect and location in relation to the ground line and neutral axis.
How It Works
We all know the outer wall strength is what is important and this is where PortaSCAN® XBS excels. With a scanning depth of up to 150mm, it is not only incredibly accurate but can provide a cross-section strength estimate in just 40 seconds. Defects are treated conservatively in strength calculation.
The outer ‘wall’ of a wooden pole or beam is the most important part of the cross section. A pole can have a hollow centre and still be strong enough to remain in service – steel or concrete poles commonly have no centre. It is the outer wall of timber that provides the strength – exactly where the PortaSCAN® XBS is effective.
In firing a pencil beam of gamma rays into a surface and measuring the energy that is scattered back through the same surface, the PortaSCAN® XBS is able to provide an estimate of the amount of timber remaining. The number of these ‘backscattered’ gamma rays depends on the density, composition and thickness of the scattering material.
This means the PortaSCAN® XBS can detect voids and decayed timber to be detected down to a depth of between 100mm to 150mm.
By slowly and constantly walking the PortaSCAN® XBS around the circumference of a pole, we can use the sum of those measurements to estimate the strength. The blue area is what we can’t see.
What we do, though, is take the reading and angle from each of those projections from the neutral axis and treat any defect as being on the outer edge of the pole, thereby being conservative with our resulting strength and condition estimate.
Results Produced
- User Friendly Software
- Results less than 1 minute
- Easy File Retrieval
- Immediate On-Site Results
- Simple Operation
- Bending Moment & Tip Load Calculation
The design of the PortaSCAN XBS® is aimed at safety, simplicity, speed and portability. Straightforward software means that only a small number of steps are required to set up the scanning process, scan the timber, interpret the results and record the findings.
The PortaSCAN XBS® is designed with the operator in mind and it only takes a moment to understand how it works and to appreciate the benefits it provides in finding out more about the assets under your control.
By using the density of the structure being scanned as a reference point, the variations that exist between timbers is removed from the assessment — if required, you can enter it in manually.
For circular objects, select the variables of diameter, height and timber species and, along with the values scanned, the PortaSCAN XBS® can estimate strength and condition. Being able to store, retrieve and relate information to a particular asset is critical and this is done with free text and an Asset ID field.
