International Symposium (NDT-CE 2003)

Non-Destructive Testing in Civil Engineering 2003

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GPR ANTENNA MEDIUM COUPLING EFFECTS:

EXPERIMENTAL AND 2D FDTD MODELLING
RESULTS
A Shaari, Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi, Malaysia
S G Millard and J H Bungey, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Liverpool, UK

Abstract
When planning a survey of a civil engineering structure using ground-penetrating radar
(GPR), it is necessary to select an antenna with an appropriate centre frequency. A higher
frequency antenna usually has a better ability to resolve closely spaced targets but also
has a reduced signal penetration beneath the surface of the structure. The antenna
frequency however is modified by coupling effects with the surface of the material being
investigated and can be significantly lower than the manufacturer's quoted frequency in
air. In addition the same coupling effect also influences the angular spread, or beam-width
of the transmitted signal. This paper reports on a study of these two antenna
characteristics in air, water and concrete which was carried out on a typical GPR antenna
with nominal centre frequency of 900MHz. Results from these measurements are
compared with those obtained from 2D finite-difference time domain (2D FDTD) modelling.
Basic principles of the experimental and modelling procedures are also discussed. The
results show how both the antenna centre frequency and the beam width are influenced by
the relative permittivity of the material measured. Some practical implications of these
results are discussed.

Introduction
Ground penetrating radar (GPR) inspection has now become an established part of the
range of non-destructive testing (NDT) techniques that can be used to assess the integrity
of civil engineering structures. In GPR inspection, the ability to interpret a complex signal
is essential and difficulties in interpretation have been identified as a potential drawback
associated with the technique. This problem can be partly attributed to inadequate
theoretical knowledge and lack of accurate and verifiable experimental data on radar
propagation in structural materials. There is also insufficient understanding of the coupling
effects of GPR antennas near or on structural materials at relevant frequency ranges. While
the former requirement demands more data and better theoretical models of the dielectric
properties of materials such as concrete, the latter requires more knowledge on the
antenna effective beam-width and the frequency characteristics in these materials [(1)].
There is also a need for means to predict the changes to the characteristics of a GPR
antenna since actual testing conditions may vary as the dielectric properties of the
structural material change. Numerical modelling of the antenna-medium coupling effects
could serve as one of the solutions to this problem. In this paper results on the effective
beam-widths and centre-frequency of a 900MHz antenna measured indirectly from
reflected signals from targets in materials with different relative permittivity (air, water
and concrete) are compared with those from a computer modelling using a two-
dimensional finite-difference time domain (2D FDTD) method. Concrete normally has a
relative permittivity between 5 (dry) and 12 (wet). Air has a relative permittivity of 1
whilst water has a value of 81.

Indirect measurements
A direct near-field radiation pattern or beam-width measurement requires a set of highly
specialised equipment and an access to the space surrounding the antenna under test
[(2)]. Even if the costs of test equipment could be overcome, space restrictions will in most
cases rule out the possibility of using a direct measurement method, particularly in solid
materials such as concrete. It is necessary therefore to adopt an indirect method to study
the changes to the characteristics of an antenna when it is coupled to a material with
different dielectric properties. Before any measurement can be made it is important that
the dielectric properties of the material (relative permittivity) and both the physical and
electrical characteristics of the antenna must be known. As shown in Figure 1a, a typical
GPR antenna operating at centre frequencies of 500MHz or more normally comprises
broadband bow-tie elements placed in a metal casing to reduce the noise level due to
interference with surrounding objects. In this study, a SIR2 radar system from Geophysics
Survey System Inc. (GSSI) together with a 900MHz antenna is used. The targets are made
of plain steel bars with diameter ranging from 3mm to 20mm with a distance from the
antenna of about 250mm. The experimental set-up is shown in Figure 1b. A reflected
signal, Vr is recorded as the antenna is moved from one sample point to another. The
reflected power in dB is then calculated from the following equation,

(1)

where Vr_max is the maximum reflected signal. In order to study the changes to the centre
frequency of the signal, a Fourier transform of V r_max is taken.

Fig 1: Typical GPR antenna and indirect measurement set-up.

FDTD modelling
Whilst indirect measurements can be used to assess the performance of any antenna, this
is time-consuming. An alternative approach is to model the performance of an antenna in
any material of interest using computer modelling. The finite-difference time domain
(FDTD) technique is a powerful means for modelling of transient or broadband
electromagnetic problems[3]. The basis for this technique is the following two continuous
time-dependent Maxwell curl equations that are then converted into a set of finite
difference equations by replacing the derivatives in these equations with differences [4].

(2)

(3)

In the above equations, E and H are the electric and magnetic fields
respectively,  and  are the magnetic permeability and conductivity respectively,
and  and  are the electrical permittivity and conductivity respectively.

Fig
2: A typical FDTD cell and model for measurement set-up.

In a two dimensional case, the six components of these equations are reduced to two sets
of three scalar equations known as transverse magnetic (TM) mode and transverse electric
(TE) mode [(5)]. In this study the TM mode is adopted and the three equations represent
the z component of electric field, Ez and the y and x components of magnetic fields, Hx and
Hy. The cell size and the arrangement of all field components involved are shown in Figure
2a while the model for the GPR antenna and the target is shown in Figure 2b. In all cases
only the reflected Ez component, Vz of the field is computed and Equation 1 is then used to
convert it into a reflected power (dB).

Results and Discussions

For beam-width measurements, the reflected power (dB) is plotted against the antenna
position (cm) and the criterion used for the antenna beam-width in the medium is the
point where the reflected power drops to half of its maximum value. This is known as the
3dB beam-width. An antenna with a narrow beam-width would be expected to have a
better resolution (i.e. discrimination between two closely spaced targets) than an antenna
with a wider beam-width. In Figures 3 and 4, the radiation patterns of 900MHz GPR
antenna both in air and concrete obtained from indirect measurements using the SIR2
radar system are compared with results from 2D FDTD modelling. From these figures a few
features can be identified.

 In both cases the maximum strength of the beam is right above the mid-point
between the transmitting,(Tx) and receiving,(Rx) elements even though a slightly
bigger reflected power is expected to be measured when the target is near T x.
 It can be seen that there is a good agreement between the actual testing and the
modelling results.
 There is also a reduction in the 3dB beam-width of the antenna from about 280mm
(60o) in air to about 180mm (40o) in concrete.

From these results, it would be expected that at a distance of 250mm from the antenna it
might be possible to resolve two targets at 300mm apart in concrete but not in air.

Fig 3: 900 MHz antenna radiation patterns Fig 4: 900 MHz antenna radiation patterns
in air. in concrete.

Figures 5 and 6 show the changes in the centre frequencies of the signals in air, water and
concrete. It is seen that there is relatively good agreement between the FDTD results and
the actual measurements on the reduction of the centre frequency with materials of
increasing relative permittivity.
 Fig 5: Frequency spectra of signals in air, Fig 6: Frequency spectra of signals in air,
water and concrete: SIR2. water and concrete: FDTD.

There is not however quite such a good agreement on the frequency distribution of each
signal as it passes through a different dielectric material. There are two possible reasons
for this discrepancy. This could be due to the 2D FDTD code used here being unable to
model the actual 3D GPR antenna and radiation pattern. Alternatively this could be due to
a common problem associated with a process of taking a Fourier transform of a band-
limited signal. The problem will be further studied by using a 3D version of the finite
difference method. The methods discussed here have been applied to an existing 900 MHz
radar antenna, but could be equally applied to any new antenna that becomes available.

Conclusions
From the previous results and discussions, it is seen that the effective beam-width of the
900MHz GPR antenna in concrete and water, has undergone some significant reductions,
compared with the value in air. The 2D FDTD modelling is capable of predicting the
changes in the antenna beam-widths but it is not quite as effective in modelling changes in
the signal frequency distribution. These results, however, can be used as a basis in the
interpretation of radar signals particularly with regard to both the horizontal and vertical
resolutions of a 900MHz GPR antenna.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution from Dr. A Giannopoulos for
providing the author with 2D FDTD code. A free version of the software GprMax2D may be
downloaded from: http://www.see.ed.ac.uk/~agianno/GprMax/
The authors would also like to acknowledge all the help and support received from Dr. AJ
Patterson on implementation of the code.

References
1. Daniels DJ, Gunton DJ and Scott HF, "Introduction to subsurface radar", IEE
Proceedings, Vol.135, Pt.F, No.4, 1988. pp:278-320.
2. Yaghjian, AD, "Review of near field antenna measurements", IEEE Trans. on
Antenna and Propagation Vol.34, No.1, Jan. 1986, pp. 30 - 45.
3. Millard SG, Shaw MR, Giannopoulos A and Soutsos MN, "Modelling of Sub-surface
pulsed radar for non-destructive testing of structures", ASCE. Journal of Materials in
Civil Engineering, Vol.10, No.3, p 188-196, Aug. 1998
4. Kunz K and Luebbers RJ. "Finite difference time domain method for
electromagnetics", CRC Press, 1993. pp: 11-49.
5. Taflove A, "Review of formulation and applications of the finite difference time
domain method for numerical modelling of electromagnetic wave interactions with
arbitrary structures", Wave Motion, Vol. 10, 1988 pp:574-582.

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