Development of rapid, continuous calibration techniques and implementation as a prototype system for civil engineering materials evaluation
- Starodub, Inc., 3504 Littledale Road, Kensington, MD 20895 (United States)
Until recently, civil engineering material calibration data could only be obtained from material sample cores or via time consuming, stationary calibration measurements in a limited number of locations. Calibration data are used to determine material propagation velocities of electromagnetic waves in test materials for use in layer thickness measurements and subsurface imaging. Limitations these calibration methods impose have been a significant impediment to broader use of nondestructive evaluation methods such as ground-penetrating radar (GPR). In 2006, a new rapid, continuous calibration approach was designed using simulation software to address these measurement limitations during a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) research and development effort. This continuous calibration method combines a digitally-synthesized step-frequency (SF)-GPR array and a data collection protocol sequence for the common midpoint (CMP) method. Modeling and laboratory test results for various data collection protocols and materials are presented in this paper. The continuous-CMP concept was finally implemented for FHWA in a prototype demonstration system called the Advanced Pavement Evaluation (APE) system in 2009. Data from the continuous-CMP protocol is processed using a semblance/coherency analysis to determine material propagation velocities. Continuously calibrated pavement thicknesses measured with the APE system in 2009 are presented. This method is efficient, accurate, and cost-effective.
- OSTI ID:
- 21511626
- Journal Information:
- AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 1335, Issue 1; Conference: Review of progress in quantitative nondestructive evaluation, San Diego, CA (United States), 18-23 Jul 2010; Other Information: DOI: 10.1063/1.3592120; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0094-243X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
CALIBRATION
CIVIL ENGINEERING
COMPUTER CODES
DATA ACQUISITION
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
EVALUATION
LAYERS
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
NONDESTRUCTIVE ANALYSIS
NONDESTRUCTIVE TESTING
PENETRATION DEPTH
RADAR
SIMULATION
THICKNESS
VELOCITY
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
DIMENSIONS
ENGINEERING
MATERIALS TESTING
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
RADIATIONS
RANGE FINDERS
TESTING