DETERMINING WOOD DENSITY OF TURKISH RED PINE (Pinus brutia Ten.) BY USING X-RAY DENSITOMETER

Over the years, different methods have been developed to determine wood density but, only X-ray densitometry has generally found suitable for determining wood density variations in annual rings. This method was first introduced to the field of wood analysis by Polge in 1963, and was further developed by various researchers. During the past two decades direct scanning X-ray densitometry systems have been developed, at which the attenuation of an X-ray beam passing through the wood specimen is directly measured by a detector. Although being reliable, X-ray densitometry has some disadvantages such as relatively high equipment costs, time-consuming preparation and measuring procedures. Keywords: Turkish red pine, wood density, x-ray