With the improvement of antennae technology and the advancement of data analysis techniques, ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is playing an increasingly important role in nondestructive pavement surveys. To use GPR for various pavement evaluation tasks, a proper GPR antenna should be selected based on its type and frequency. However, no quantitative guidance is currently available to help practitioners and researchers choose the appropriate GPR system for a certain pavement evaluations. This paper proposes guidelines for selecting an appropriate GPR system for a particular pavement evaluation task. In this study, five antennae were investigated: 2.0GHz, 1.0GHz, and 0.5GHz air-coupled antennae; and 1.5GHz and 0.9GHz ground-coupled antennae. GPR tests were performed on various types of pavements, includingfull depth hot-mix asphalt (HMA) pavements, plain concrete pavements, composite pavements with HMA surfaces over jointed concrete pavements (JCP), and continuously reinforced concrete pavements (CRCP). For each type of pavement, the authors provide recommendations for an appropriate GPR system based on resolution and penetration depth requirements.
Abstract