GPR multi‐component data analysis

Abstract

In order to test the capabilities of ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) detection, models were reproduced in a laboratory using both plastic and metal cylinders as well as sheets to represent anomalies buried in a plastic tank containing sand. These models, which represent pipes and dipping layers in a homogeneous medium (i.e., sand), were used to detect the object’s position and study its polarization properties based on the different dielectric contrasts between the object and the surrounding medium. We paid particular attention to the choice of medium through which the wavefield propagated, to be sure of its isotropy and homogeneity, in order for the velocity to be the same for every path travelled. Experimental tests were carried out by changing the dielectric contrasts from the target to the surrounding medium. In particular, the dielectric cylinders (which have a lower permittivity than that of the surrounding sand) were filled with different substances to represent targets such as PVC pipes, either empty or filled with hydrocarbons or water. The resulting scattered field depended on the electrical properties of both the cylinder and the surrounding material, the distance from the cylinder and the scattering angle. Further experimental tests were carried out by using multi‐component GPR data to study the possibility of calculating the angle between the direction of the profile and that of the anomalies. The experimental data obtained as responses to the physical models proved that this method can be successfully applied to detect the orientation of dipping layers, cylinders and vertical fractures.

FDTD modelling in high‐resolution 2D and 3D GPR surveys on a reinforced concrete column in a double wall of hollow bricks

“…Indeed, the electromagnetic wave polarization affects the scattering properties of the cylindrical objects: the polarization of the incident field on the receiver antenna is determined by the polarization of the radiated field by the transmitter antenna and the degree of depolarization due to scattering on buried objects. Most commercial antennas are dipole or bowtie, like those used for this study that radiate energy linearly polarized with the main component of the electric field, oriented along the dipole axis (Capizzi and Cosentino ).…”

Processing strategies for high-resolution GPR concrete inspections

“…Langenberg et al [5] describe a unified theory of modeling and imaging with electromagnetic and elastic waves for the non-destructive testing of concrete. Capizzi and Cosentino [6] investigate different dipole configurations in experimental tests using longish objects in a homogeneous medium. Sbartai et al [7] suggest the use of an artificial neural network for solving the inverse problem related to radar data acquired on reinforced concrete.…”

From Geophysics to Microgeophysics for Engineering and Cultural Heritage

“…GPR method used to detect small discontinuities is not simple, but several studies have been carried out to locate subsurfaces fractures and all of them showed that GPR can give good results [17,[24][25][26][27][28][29].…”