Ground-Penetrating Radar

As illustrated by Aduku Samuel, QC 500536 for presentation at Decibel NDE Inspections and Training Institute

INDEX
1: Abstract 2: Ground-Penetrating Radar
Method of deployment Application Limitations Relationship with other technologies Future

Page 3 4
4 5 6 6 6

3: Reference

1. ABSTRACT
The need to ensure that a given material or structure is good enough to achieve its expected purpose of design is important to both the manufacturer and the consumer. Hence, when received or while it is being used, it is important to measure certain characteristics of this same material or structure against given parameters without doing any harm. The process used in achieving this is known generally as a Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) process. The Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) has become an ever present part of our everyday engineering process; from design through manufacture to the in-service life of any material or structure, NDT is applied using various methods. It has also found importance in various applications in fields of environmental technology, geophysics, hydrogeophysics, military and mining operations as well as seismology. The NDT process previously had 13 methods according to ASNT STC-TC-1A-2006 which has since been reviewed to 15 methods according to the more recent ASNT STC-TC-1A-2011 publication. The additional two methods prove to be of interest given their medium of transmission in that they both employ the wave medium to transmit signals to the NDT technicians device for processing. They are the GroundPenetrating Radar (GPR) and the Guided Wave methods. This publication tends to explain the principles and applications of Ground-Penetrating Radar NDT while trying to highlight some of its reported limitations and futuristic usage.

2.GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR
This is an NDT method that employs the use of electromagnetic radiation of the UHF/VHF frequencies within the microwave band of the radio field to detect the reflected signals from the subsurface structures. It utilizes radar pulses to picture the subsurface. It can be used in different media from solid (rock, ice, pavement, structures), liquid (fresh water) to soil. It can be used to sense objects, variance in materials, and structural flaws (voids, cracks, etc). The ability to conduct electricity by the ground, the center frequency transmitted and the power radiated are examples of known limitations to the depth range of the GPR. Penetration depth decreases by increased conductivity because the electromagnetic energy is quickly dissipated to heat thereby creating a loss in signal power at depth. Higher frequencies give better resolution but they do not penetrate as far as low frequencies. The depth of penetration is finest in ice medium where the penetration depth can attain several hundred meters. Good penetration is attained in gigantic dry materials like concretes, granites and limestone where penetration depth could be up to 15meters and dry sandy soils. Sometimes, penetration is only a few centimeters in soil medium with high conductive electricity and also in moist or and/or clayey soils.

I. Method of Deployment
For best signal power, the GPR antenna is placed in touch with the ground; however, GPR air-launched antennas may be utilized above the ground. Typically, GPR utilizes polarized high-frequency radio waves and then transmits these waves into the ground; when these waves strike any buried item or a border with different dielectric constants, the receiving antenna records differences in the reflected return signal. The principles involved are similar to reflection seismology but for the usage of electromagnetic energy instead of acoustic energy, and reflections appear at boundaries with different dielectric constants instead of acoustic impedances.

II. Applications
Its engineering applications range from the nondestructive testing of structures and pavements, to location of buried structures and utility lines and the study of bedrock. It can also be used in underground mining for mapping of borehole structures when borehole radars that utilize GPRs are used. One of its main applications is in locating underground utilities; this is derived from the fact that it can produce 3D images from underground domains (sewage, water, pipes and power mains). It has also proved a useful method in evaluating the existence and amount of soil water in hydrogeophysics. In environmental studies, GPR is employed to classify pollutant traces, landfills, and other remediation sites within the environment. It is used in archeology for mapping archaeological features and graveyards. In law enforcement, it is used to locate covered evidences and secret graves. Its application in the military ranges from detecting mine to recovering undetonated weaponry and tunnels.

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III. Limitations
Materials with increased conductivity like soils contaminated with salt and clay soils as well as those with varied conditions which scatters the signals like the rocky soils pose a challenge to the GPR method of NDT. Other disadvantages of currently known to GPR systems include: Analyzing the indications is generally not easily achievable by the novice. You must have adequate expertise to successfully carry out GPR inspection. Fairly high energy is consumed during operation; hence, it becomes challenging to use GPR wide-ranging field surveys. It is claimed in some quarters that new improvement to GPR components have greatly improved the above setbacks and additional enhancement is likely with continuing advancement.

IV. Relationship with other Technologies

GPR utilizes diverse techniques to produce the radar indication; they are the impulse, the noise and the stepped frequency. There is also the FMCW (frequency-modulate continuous-wave) for measuring short range radar. GPR can be used for evaluating excess speed on vehicles on the road; can also be used in a disagreement mode to ascertain facts. One GPR application is in the PPR, pipe penetrating radar; here the signals are passed through a pipeline walls to identify its thickness and any void that could be at the rear of the pipeline walls.

V. Future
It is said that a group of enthusiasts are embarking on project to design a system that will be capable of determining the absence or presence of landmines in a given area by employing high wideband synthetic opening radar units placed on blimps/mini aircrafts.

3. Reference
Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground-penetrating_radar