Examinating GPR based detection of defects in RC builds

Abstract

The Ground Penetrating Radar is a device which can be used for non-destructive inspection of civil engineering structures such as reinforced concrete buildings and bridges. Because of its ability to detect defects and provide reliable image of the substructure, it has attracted large interest from both practitioners and researchers in the field of health monitoring of vital structures. The objective of this work is to analyze detectability of defects in reinforced concrete structures by considering the presence of a defect which can attenuate GPR signals. Defects embedded in the structure can in fact cause significant changes in the intensity of the hyperbolic like reflection patterns generated by reinforcement bars. To assess this effect, a numerical simulation study of GPR data was conducted by using the GprMax software which is based on finite differences time domain method. The proposed approach has enabled to study the modification affecting the radargram due to the presence of a defect of finite size.

Numerical modelling of bridge deck reinforcement corrosion based on analysis of GPR data

“…Numerical simulations using GprMax software have been utilized to analyze the detectability of defects in reinforced concrete structures [24]. Moreover, various studies have explored the effects of corrosion, attenuation, scattering, and quantitative estimation of corrosive effects on rebars using GPR data [12, 15-19, 25, 26].…”

Numerically based qualitative evaluation of GPR vertical and horizontal resolutions for reinforced concrete structures

“…To study the outcome of simulation in terms of horizontal resolution, reference is made to Eq. ( 2) in which a new parameter α reflecting geometric attenuation is introduced [14][15][16]. The horizontal resolution is considered under the following form [15]:…”