MSU team develops app to test lumber stiffness

A new app developed by faculty in the Mississippi State University College of Forest Resources could now gives consumers access to functions previously available on expensive equipment for the cost of $4.99.

The Smart Thumper App was developed by a team of sustainable byproducts faculty in the College of Forest Resources.

The app allows consumers to test the stiffness and density of wood, particularly Southern pine lumber using sound waves and vibration. The team of Warren S. Thompson Professor or Wood Science and Technology Dan Seale, assistant research professor of sustainable byproducts and graduate student Songyi “May” Han began working on the project in 2014.

“It’s an app that predicts the stiffness of a piece of lumber,” Seale said. “Stiffness does not absolutely predict strength, but they are correlated statistically.”

Seale said the app could be used by anyone from lumber mill quality control personnel to do-it-yourself carpenters.

“To look at the material that’s going to be used in certain applications, you’ve just got to whip out your smart phone and do it at the job site,” Seale said.”

He said the idea for creating a smartphone

(Photo by David Ammon, MSU) From left, Frederico Franca, assistant research professor of sustainable bioproducts; Songyi “May” Han, an MSU sustainable bioproducts doctoral student; and professor Dan Seale. The team’s work is part of the university’s Forest and Wildlife Research Center The team created Smart Thumper an app to test the stiffness of lumber.