Use of the non-destructive ground-penetrating radar technique in civil engineering: Evaluation of the variation of water content in concrete

Abstract

The non-destructive ground-penetrating radar (GPR) technique is based on the pulsation of electromagnetic waves in the microwave range. This technique is currently used in a large number of studies in the field of civil engineering, such as the analysis of state of pavements, bridges, tunnels, buildings, in the detection and location of installations, as well as in the characterization of building materials. This article describes, as an example, a complete experimental study in which the sensitivity of the non-destructive technique of GPR to assess the variation of the water content is demonstrated. The evaluation is performed by analysing electromagnetic wave parameters recorded using commercial ground-penetrating radar equipment.