In April 1998, Temple-Inland Forest Products Corporation entered the medium-density fiberboard (MDF) market with the startup of a state-of-the-art mill in southern Arkansas. Following the acquisition of two additional plants in October (Clarion, Pennsylvania, & Pembroke, Ontario), Temple became the leading producer of MDF in North America -virtually overnight. In recent years, Temple has strategically expanded its long-standing role in the particleboard and gypsum wallboard markets. This rapid expansion includes yet another new product entry for the Company - cementitious fiberboard - which is expected to become a dominant product in the exterior siding market. As the Company builds new mills and modernizes older mills, computer control technologies are being integrated into the production processes. PLC systems, which run from client-server platforms, rely on accurate feedback of process data for precise control. This is a relatively well-defined task with respect to temperature, pressure, mass flow, position, velocity, and the like. As yet, accurate on-line measurement of finished product characteristics is unavailable, and would lead to potential breakthroughs in process control and optimization. NDE has been in use for many years in the forest products industry, primarily as a means for process quality assurance. Examples of commercial applications include: ultrasonic blow detection systems, laser-based thickness measurement, infrared moisture measurement, and x-ray density profilometry. While laboratory methods have shown promise for quantitative measurement of mechanical properties, the manufacturing facilities still rely on off-line destructive testing methods for quality assurance. This paper will highlight some of the existing NDE applications in our Company and to examine how NDE technologies may be applied to quality assurance and process control in the near future.
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