The Effect of Log Position Accuracy on the Volume Yield in Sawmilling of Tropical Hardwood

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of the positioning of the log before sawing on the volume yield of sawn timber from tropical hardwood species. Three positioning parameters were studied, the offset, skew, and rotation, combined with two sawing patterns of cant-sawing and through-and-through sawing. A database consisting of two tropical hardwood species with very different outer shapes, jambirre (Millettia stuhllmannii Taub.) and umbila (Pterocarpus angolensis DC.), was used to simulate the sawing process. The result of the simulation revealed that, according to the combined effect of offset, skew, and rotation positioning, the positioning of the log before sawing is extremely important to achieve a high volume yield of sawn timber. The positioning parameter that has the highest effect on the volume yield is the rotation, and the variation in the volume yield associated with a deviation in the positioning can reduce the volume yield of sawn timber by between 7.7% and 12.5%.

Keywords

• Log positioning error
• Tropical species
• Skew
• Offset
• Rotation