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Effect of Concrete Moisture on Radar Signal Amplitude

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 ACI MATERIALS JOURNAL
Title no. 103-M46
Effect of Concrete Moisture on Radar Signal Amplitude
by Zoubir Mehdi Sbartaï, Stéphane Laurens, Jean-Paul Balayssac, Gérard Ballivy, and
Ginette Arliguie
The moisture content of concrete is a critical parameter for most of
the physicochemical pathologies, such as steel reinforcement
corrosion, alkali-aggregate reaction, and freezing-and-thawing
cycles. Therefore, the detection of moisture is important for the
diagnosis of concrete structures at early stages of deterioration.
The present study was undertaken to assess the effect of the degree
of saturation, water-cement ratio (w/c), and volumetric water
content on the amplitude variation of direct and reflected radar
waves. Four concretes with w/c of 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, and 0.78 were
evaluated. Radar measurements were carried out on 72 samples
saturated at 0, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100%.
Test results show that an increase in the degree of saturation
leads to significant decrease in the amplitude of both direct and
reflected waves. This is mainly attributed to the increase in
complex permittivity related to the polarization and conduction
mechanisms occurring in concrete. Generally, the radar measurements
showed good repeatability, which was evaluated using the coefficient
of variation, and the statistical dispersion of the direct wave amplitude
was lower than that of the reflected wave. For dry and wet
concrete, w/c did not appear as an influent parameter regarding
the experimental results. A good correlation was found between
the amplitude of direct and reflected waves for each degree of
saturation. This suggests that the direct and reflected wave
amplitudes provide similar information regarding the concrete
moisture. Irrespectively of w/c and the depth of reflector, an
empirical relationship between signal amplitude of direct wave
and volumetric water content was established that can be used to
estimate concrete moisture.
Keywords: amplitude; concrete; saturation.
INTRODUCTION
Water ingress through concrete pores is considered among
the major causes of physicochemical pathologies, and the
risk of damage is related to the degree of saturation or the
moisture content.1 For example, a relative humidity value of
approximately 65% is optimal for carbonation to proceed.2
Chlorides diffuse through water in the pores.3 The expansion
of concrete associated with alkali-aggregate reaction is
significant when the water content by weight of concrete
exceeds approximately 4%.4 Freezing-and-thawing cycles
present a risk of damage above a critical degree of saturation
of approximately 0.8 for non-air-entrained concrete.5 There-
fore, a knowledge of the moisture variation in the concrete
structures is critical for predicting pathological risks at early
stages of deterioration.
Traditional methods aiming to assess the condition of
structures, such as electrical resistivity measurement or half
cell potential test, are slow and require lane closures for the
sounding of bridge decks. In contrast, radar measurement is
a potentially powerful technique because it is a nondestructive
method, relatively insensitive to ambient conditions, and it
can investigate large surfaces in a relatively short time.
Many researchers have emphasized the capability of radar
technology to evaluate the rate of degradation of reinforced
ACI Materials Journal/November-December 2006
TECHNICAL PAPER
concrete structures.6-8 Such work, however, generally
focuses on the assessment of damage or deterioration, which
has developed over time, such as delamination or cracks
mainly caused by the progression of physicochemical
pathologies. According to many studies, the propagation of
radar waves is affected by the presence of water in
concrete.9,10 Therefore, analyses of the recorded radar
signals can provide quantitative information on the moisture
of concrete.
Radar system is based on the transmission of a short pulse
of electromagnetic (EM) energy. An antenna receives the
signal of energy traveling directly from the source to the
receiver, referred to as the direct wave. Reflected waves are
received from any interfaces between materials of different
permittivity. Radar waves propagation is governed by the
permittivity of concrete. This EM property can be written in
terms of real and imaginary parts as
ε = ε′ – iε″ (1)
where ε′ equals the dielectric constant of material, ε′′ equals the
loss factor, and i = – 1 . For a slightly conducting medium, typi-
cally for concrete with low to medium salt and moisture content,
the dielectric constant is related to the propagation velocity v of
EM waves in the material by the following equation11
c 2
ε′ = ⎛ --⎞ (2)
⎝ v⎠
where c is the propagation velocity of EM waves in free
space (3 × 108 m/s).
The loss factor ε′′ strongly affects the attenuation of EM
waves due to absorption. In the case of the plane wave
approximation, the attenuation coefficient α of EM waves is
given by Eq. (3)10
ωε″ μ
α = --------- ----0- (3)
2 ε′
where ω is the angular frequency and μ0 the magnetic
permeability of free space.
Concrete is a heterogeneous material that can be decomposed
into solid phase (aggregates and hydrates), gaseous phase
(air), and liquid phase (conductive solution). The dielectric
ACI Materials Journal, V. 103, No. 6, November-December 2006.
MS No. 04-369 received November 12, 2004, and reviewed under Institute publication
policies. Copyright © 2006, American Concrete Institute. All rights reserved, including
the making of copies unless permission is obtained from the copyright proprietors.
Pertinent discussion including authors’ closure, if any, will be published in the September-
October 2007 ACI Materials Journal if the discussion is received by June 1, 2007.
419

Zoubir Mehdi Sbartaï is an Associate Professor and Researcher at the National
Institute of Applied Sciences, Toulouse, France. He received his PhD at Sherbrooke
University, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada, and Paul Sabatier University, Toulouse, France.
His research interests include durability of concrete, nondestructive evaluation of concrete
structures using electrical and electromagnetic methods, and statistical modeling.
Stéphane Laurens is an Associate Professor at the National Institute of Applied Sciences.
His research interests include nondestructive evaluation of concrete structures using
radar and electrical measurements.
Jean-Paul Balayssac is an Associate Professor at the Technology Institute of Paul
Sabatier University. His research interests include nondestructive testing of concrete
structures, durability of cover concrete, and durability of thin bonded cement-
based overlays.
ACI member Gérard Ballivy has been a Professor at the Department of Civil
Engineering of Sherbrooke University since 1976 and founded the Laboratory of Rock
Mechanics and Applied Geology in 1977. He is also a Principal Researcher of the
Research Center on the Concrete Infrastructures (CRIB).
Ginette Arliguie is a Professor at Paul Sabatier University. She is the Head of the
Laboratory Materials and Durability of Constructions (LMDC). Her research interests
include service life and pathology of concrete and physical and chemical behavior of
reinforced concrete.
constant of the solid phase generally lies between 3 and 5,
and depends upon mineral composition. At radar frequencies
(0.1 to 3 Ghz), however, the dielectric constant of an aqueous
solution varies between 40 (high salinity) and 81 (pure
water).12 Therefore, the value of the dielectric constant of
concrete typically lies between 5 and 12, depending primarily
upon moisture content and signal frequency.13 The loss
factor is also strongly affected by the moisture state of
concrete, lying approximately from 0 for dry concrete to 2 for
saturated concrete.14-16 The variation of the water volume in
concrete pores leads to large change in the complex permittivity
and consequently in the attenuation and the propagation
velocity of radar waves.7
In this context, many researchers have studied the moisture
effect on the variation of concrete permittivity. For example,
Haddad and Al-Qadi17 evaluated the permittivity of portland
cement concrete using a coaxial transmission line between
0.1 and 1 GHz. The authors reported that the complex
permittivity (real and imaginary part) of concrete specimens
can significantly decrease with increasing curing time. On
the other hand, the water-cement ratio (w/c), cement type,
and chloride presence in concrete were found to have no
significant effect on the concrete permittivity. Using an
open-ended coaxial probe method over a microwave
frequency range of 0.1 to 20 GHz, Rhim and Büyüköztürk.15
reported that the increase in concrete water content greatly
affects the change in the real and imaginary part of concrete
complex permittivity. In recent studies, Soutsos et al.14 used
a coaxial transmission line over the frequency range of 0.01 to
1 GHz to evaluate the effect of mixture design and water
volume on the variation of concrete permittivity. The authors
found a good correlation between the dielectric constant,
electrical conductivity, and the free water present in the
concrete porosity at 500 MHz. It was also reported that the
differences due to mixture constituents had minor influence
compared with the effect of moisture, and salt impregnation
did not significantly affect the concrete permittivity in the
tested frequency range.
The first applications of radar technology for the assessment
of volumetric water were in the field of geophysical
prospecting. In general, the method consists of estimating
the dielectric constant using Eq. (2). When the dielectric
constant is known, the empirical relation of Topp et al.18 can
be used to evaluate soil water content. Unfortunately, the
420
approach cannot be used to map soil water content without
extensive boring to determine the depth of the soil interface.19
In contrast, the use of the direct wave does not require the
presence of any reflecting soil interface, and it can be used to
estimate soil water content.19-21 In the field of civil engineering
structures, however, limited information exists regarding the
assessment of concrete moisture using radar technology.
Laurens et al.22 studied the influence of concrete relative
humidity (RH) on the amplitude of radar signals. The
concrete mixture tested was prepared with portland cement
Type I 52.5 R, and w/c of 0.6. The radar measurement was
carried out on slabs using a commercial ground-coupled
antenna of 1.5 GHz central frequency, while RH profiles of
the concrete were provided by specific sensors placed at
various heights through the slabs. The authors reported that
the amplitude of the direct wave signal was greatly influenced
by variations of concrete moisture. Compared with reflected
wave, the use of the direct wave for nondestructive evaluation
of civil engineering structures is of great interest because the
measurement does not require the presence of reflectors, the
distance between transmitter and receiver is known, and the
data processing is simple and fast.
As already mentioned, there is a need to establish an
understanding of the ability of radar system to characterize
concrete moisture. This paper presents the evaluation of the
effect of the degree of saturation, w/c, and volumetric water
content on the signal amplitude variation of radar direct and
reflected waves. Four concrete mixtures with w/c of 0.5, 0.6,
0.7, and 0.78 were tested. Radar measurements were carried
out on samples saturated at different degrees varying
between 0 and 100%, corresponding to volumetric water
content lying between 0 and 16.2%. The repeatability of
radar measurement was assessed using the coefficient of
variation. A comparison between the amplitudes of direct and
reflected waves at each degree of saturation was also made.
RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE
Moisture content is a crucial factor in most types of
concrete pathology. Radar technology is a promising
nondestructive testing method for the rapid sounding of
structures. However, limited information exists regarding
the use of radar system to evaluate the moisture of concrete.
Given the advantages of direct wave observations, the aim of
this paper is to assess the ability of this wave to provide
access to concrete moisture characterization. The results can be
used to develop a new diagnosis method based on the detection
of dielectric contrasts. This can yield interesting information
regarding the pathological risks in concrete structures.
EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM
Materials and mixture proportions
Ordinary portland cement CEM Type I 52.5 R was used in
the concrete mixtures. Round siliceous aggregates with a
nominal size of 10 mm and siliceous sand were employed.
The sand had a fineness modulus of 3. The specific gravities
of the coarse aggregates and sand were 2.69 and 2.68, respec-
tively. Their absorptions were 0.7 and 2.8%, respectively. The
amount of water and aggregates were corrected taking into
account the moisture content of the aggregates.
Four ordinary concrete mixtures were designed with w/c
of 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, and 0.78. The mixture proportions, fresh and
hardened concrete characteristics are summarized in Table 1.
The water porosity and specific gravity of concrete were
measured following AFPC-AFREM standards.23
ACI Materials Journal/November-December 2006
Casting and sample preparation
To evaluate repeatability, three slabs 0.75 m long, 0.50 m
wide, and 0.08 m thick were cast from the same batch for
each mixture. Concrete was placed in the molds in two layers
and compacted using a vibrating table for 15 seconds for
each layer. The top surface of the slabs was troweled to give
a smooth finish. The slabs were covered with a plastic film
to prevent water evaporation and kept in the molds for 24 hours.
Then the slabs were removed from their molds and stored in
water for 30 days. After the curing time, each slab was cut in
to six square samples of dimensions of 0.25 x 0.25 x 0.08 m
(Fig. 1), giving 18 samples investigated for each mixture.
The samples were saturated at six degrees of saturation (0,
0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1), as shown in Fig. 1. The degrees of
saturation (S) were reached with the following procedure.
First, the samples were stored in an oven at 70 °C until they
reached mass equilibrium (S = 0). Second, they were stored
in water until mass stabilization was obtained (S = 1). After
complete saturation, the samples were dried gradually in an
oven at 70 °C until they reached the mass corresponding to
the desired degree of saturation with ±5% fluctuation. This
mass and the volumetric water content were calculated with
Eq. (4) and (5), respectively.
M = S(Ms – Md) + Md (4)
V
W = -----w- × 100 (5)
V
5.9 cm. This antenna was selected because of its frequent use
for the sounding of the bridge decks. The 1.5 GHz antenna
has a high frequency spectrum and high quality wave-
forms.24 High frequencies, however, are generally subject to
more attenuation, which decreases the penetration depth of
the radar measurements. Generally, this type of antenna is
suitable for auscultation at a depth between 20 and 40 cm
depending upon concrete moisture content.
Measurement process and data analysis
Radar data from the concrete samples were regularly taken
using the following procedure. The antenna was placed in air
and 200 radar scans were saved. Without stopping the
recording, the antenna was placed on the top of the sample
surface to radiate energy through the material, and then
200 radar scans were saved.
Data were analyzed using RADAN NT software. In an
attempt to reduce noise and undesirable signal, a finite
impulse response (FIR) filter was applied to the recorded
signals. The pass band of the filter is between 0.5 and 3 GHz.
After filtering, peak-to-peak amplitudes of both direct and
reflected waves were extracted for the 200 scans using
semi-automatic tools available in RADAN NT software.
Average values of these amplitudes were then calculated. At
last, in order to normalize data, the peak-to-peak amplitude
of the signals recorded on concrete samples (direct and
reflected waves) was divided by the peak-to-peak amplitude
of the signal recorded in air, which is a stable reference.

This saturation protocol does not lead to the total saturation of

the samples because it is not performed under vacuum. But,
it is representative of the saturation process undergone by
concrete on real structures. In order to achieve homogeneous
moisture distribution throughout the concrete volume, the
samples were sealed with a plastic film and a layer of
aluminum paper to preserve the saturation state and stored in
an oven at 70 °C for 1 week.10 Prior to radar measurements, the
lower faces of all samples were wrapped in adhesive
aluminum film, which is a perfect reflector of EM waves.

Measurement system
Radar measurements were carried out using a SIR-2000
system and a 1.5 GHz 5100 ground-coupled antenna, as
shown in Fig. 2. Data collection was performed in bistatic
configuration. The transmitter and receiver of this antenna Fig. 2—GSSI SIR 2000 system connected to 1.5 GHz
are located in the same box with a fixed distance equal to antenna and radar measurement on concrete sample.

Table 1—Mixture proportions and characteristics

Mixture 1 Mixture 2 Mixture 3 Mixture 4
Cement CEM I 52.5 R, kg/m3 400 350 300 280
Coarse aggregate, kg/m3 1085 1054 1078 1068
Fine aggregate, kg/m3 737 809 828 854
3 200 210 210 218
Water, kg/m
w/c 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.78
Slump, mm 55 65 72 80
Air content, % 2.2 2.5 3.0 3.3
Unit weight, kg/m3 2485 2485 2475 2460
Compressive strength
43.3 38.5 30.3 26.9
at 28 days, MPa
Fig. 1—Distribution of degrees of saturation sought for all Water porosity, % 14.3 15.0 16.1 16.7
samples of each mixture. Specific gravity 2.30 2.27 2.25 2.23

ACI Materials Journal/November-December 2006 421

 TEST RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Typical waveform of recorded radar signals
Typical signals recorded in air and on concrete sample of
Mixture 1 are illustrated in Fig. 3 and 4, respectively. The
signal Sa generally referred to as the air wave signal corresponds
to the energy traveling directly from the source to the receiver
antenna. S1 equivalent to Sa, corresponds to the signal of the
direct wave propagating in the first few centimeters depth of
concrete along the surface where the antenna is placed. The
signal S2 (reflected wave) represents a part of energy
reflected from the bottom of the sample, which is a concrete-
aluminium interface. It propagates through the sample thickness
towards the opposite end, where it is back-scattered.
Fig. 3—Typical signal recorded in air.
Fig. 4—Typical signal recorded on dry concrete sample of
Mixture 1.
Fig. 5—Comparison between signals recorded on dry and
wet concrete of Mixture 1.
422
Significance of water effect on radar signal
Recorded signals from dry and saturated concrete are
compared in Fig. 5. The positive and negative amplitude
peaks of S1 and S2 are referred to as Ad+, Ad– and Ar+, Ar–,
respectively. The presence of water in the concrete leads to
significant variations in S1 and S2. It can be observed that the
peaks’ amplitude decreases and their travel times increase.
The travel time of S2 can be used to estimate the propagation
velocity and the dielectric constant of concrete using Eq. (2).
Although the travel time of S1 increases with increasing
concrete water content, however, it cannot be used to estimate
propagation velocity and dielectric constant. This is because
the receiving antenna is located in the near-field of the radiating
dipole where non-homogeneous waves are predominant. There-
fore, the plane wave approximation used to describe the behavior
of homogeneous waves in the far-field is not applicable.25
The amplitude of EM waves depends on the attenuation
that takes place during their propagation. In general, the
attenuation of EM waves in concrete results from two
mechanisms: 1) absorption of EM energy due to dipole
polarization (the rotation movement of permanent dipoles
such as water molecules) and ionic conduction (the
displacement of anions and cations in the liquid phase); and
2) geometrical attenuation, which is related to the variation
of the radiation pattern of the antenna due to a change in the
dielectric constant.25 For example, in air (ε′ = 1), the amplitude
of the direct wave is maximum, indicating that the radiation
towards the receiving antenna is very strong. In pure water
(ε′ = 81), contrary to the reflected wave, the direct wave does
not exist (Fig. 6). In this case, the antenna radiation is unidi-
rectional. Therefore, the saturation of concrete, which is
accompanied by an increase in the dielectric constant, leads
to a decrease in the aperture of radiation pattern and the
amplitude of the direct wave signal.
The increase of water content in the pores of concrete leads
to an increase in the polarization and conduction mechanisms,
which results in decrease of EM energy. The results of dipole
Fig. 6—Typical signal recorded in air and in water.
ACI Materials Journal/November-December 2006
polarization are reflected in the real part of concrete complex
permittivity.26 Frictions occurring during dipole polarization
and ionic conduction lead to an increase in the imaginary
part of the concrete complex permittivity.

Signal amplitude and degree of saturation

Typical results representing the variations of S1 and S2
amplitude with respect to the degree of saturation for
Mixture 4 are shown in Fig. 7 and 8, respectively. A slight
variation of amplitudes can be seen between the Samples A,
B, and C for each degree of saturation. All curves show that
the amplitude decreases with increasing degree of saturation.
The maximum range of variation of S1 amplitude is between
0.59 (S = 0) and 0.25 (S = 1) corresponding to a decrease rate
of approximately 58%. The maximum range of variation of Fig. 9—Variation of average amplitude of direct wave with
S2 amplitude is between 0.98 (S = 0) and 0.30 (S = 1), which respect to degree of saturation for all mixtures tested.
corresponds to a decrease rate of approximately 69%.
The average values of S1 and S2 amplitude for each degree
of saturation for all the mixtures tested are summarized in
Table 2. The average amplitude was calculated from the
three measurements carried out on Samples A, B, and C. The
variations of S1 and S2 amplitude with respect to the degree
of saturation for all the mixtures tested are illustrated in Fig. 9
and 10, respectively. The two diagrams show minor differences
between the curves for all mixtures. In addition, it seems that
the amplitude of both S1 and S2 linearly decrease with
increasing the degree of saturation. Therefore, the attenuation of
the radar signal amplitude is not affected by the continuity of
the concrete liquid phase.

Fig. 10—Variation of average amplitude of reflected wave

with respect to degree of saturation for all mixtures tested.

Table 2—Average values of degree of saturation and

normalized amplitude of direct and reflected waves
Degree of Amplitude of Amplitude of
saturation direct wave reflected wave
0 0.59 0.98
0.21 0.55 0.94
Mixture 1 0.39 0.46 0.74
(w/c = 0.5) 0.58 0.43 0.60
0.77 0.38 0.50
1 0.29 0.36
Fig. 7—Variation of direct wave amplitude with respect to 0 0.56 0.98
degree of saturation for Samples A, B, and C of Mixture 4. 2.25 0.49 0.85
Mixture 2 0.45 0.42 0.63
(w/c = 0.6) 0.63 0.38 0.51
0.75 0.37 0.49
1 0.28 0.30
0 0.61 0.93
0.21 0.57 0.90
Mixture 3 0.40 0.45 0.72
(w/c = 0.7) 0.59 0.40 0.48
0.79 0.36 0.46
1 0.28 0.33
0 0.55 0.94
0.22 0.49 0.82
Mixture 4 0.40 0.43 0.68
(w/c = 0.78) 0.55 0.37 0.54
0.75 0.34 0.47
Fig. 8—Variation of reflected wave amplitude with respect to
degree of saturation for Samples A, B, and C of Mixture 4. 1 0.25 0.36

ACI Materials Journal/November-December 2006 423

Repeatability of radar measurement
The repeatability of the radar measurement was evaluated
using the coefficient of variation (COV). In general, the
results show a good reproducibility of the radar measure-
ments. For example, the COV of amplitude of 200 signals
recorded on the same dry concrete sample (S = 0) of Mixture
1 is approximately 0.3% for S1 and 0.6% for S2. For saturated
concrete (S = 1), the COV of S1 and S2 amplitude is approxi-
mately 0.3 and 0.5%, respectively.
Figure 11 shows the variation of COV of S1 and S2 amplitude
for all the mixtures tested at S = 0. The COV calculated from
the amplitudes of signals recorded on Samples A, B, and C
is low and varies from 1.3 to 1.7% for S1, and from 1.0 to
Fig. 11—Coefficient of variation of amplitude of signal
recorded on dry concrete (S = 0) for all mixtures tested.
Fig. 12—Coefficient of variation of amplitude of signal
recorded on saturated concrete (S = 1) for all mixtures tested.
Fig. 13—Effect of w/c on amplitude of direct wave for
mixtures tested at 0, 0.4, and 0.8 degrees of saturation.
424
1.8% for S2. For saturated concrete (S = 1), however, the
COV is higher than for dry concrete and varies from 1.7 to
4.3% for S1, and from 4.0 to 9.9% for S2, (Fig. 12). This
suggests that the statistical dispersion of S1 amplitude is
lower than that of S2. In addition, the repeatability of
measurement indicates that the amplitude of S1 is relatively
stable with ±5% of maximum fluctuation.
Effect of w /c
Figure 13 and 14 show the variations of S1 and S2 amplitude,
respectively, with respect to w/c for all the mixtures tested at
0, 0.4, and 0.8 degrees of saturation. For S = 0, a low variation
of amplitude was found with values ranging from 0.55 to
0.61 for S1 and 0.93 to 0.98 for S2. The value of COV of S1
and S2 amplitudes calculated from the four mixtures is
approximately 4.7 and 2.7%, respectively; that is, lower than
the statistical dispersion. Therefore, w/c does not significantly
affect the amplitude of S1 and S2.
In general, for wet concrete, the results show also no
significant effect of w/c on S1 and S2 amplitude variation. For
example, for S = 0.8, despite an increase of the volumetric water
from 10% (Mixture 1) to 12% (Mixture 4), the value of S1
and S2 amplitude did not change significantly. The value of the
COV calculated from the amplitudes of all the tested mixtures
for S = 0.8 is low and equal to 4.7% for S1 and 3.8% for S2.
The non-significance of the w/c effect on the amplitude of
radar signals can be attributed to the low range of water
porosity of the concrete mixtures tested. This physical property
varied from 14.3 for Mixture 1 to 16.7 for Mixture 4 (Table 1).
These weak differences observed in porosity are due to the
moist curing period that was fixed to 28 days in order to
stabilize cement hydration process. This led to the optimization
of hydration, thus limiting capillary pores. This was
confirmed by mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) results
showing no significant difference in the distribution of pore
radius for all the mixtures tested, as seen in Fig. 15. It is
important to note that other authors showed that w/c does not
significantly affect the real and imaginary part of concrete
complex permittivity.14,17 This may also explains the fact
that the w/c does not affect the amplitude of radar signals.
Comparison between direct and
reflected wave amplitudes
Regarding Table 2, it is interesting to compare the variation
of S1 and S2 amplitude with respect to the degree of saturation.
Fig. 14—Effect of w/c on amplitude of reflected wave for
mixtures tested at 0, 0.4, and 0.8 degrees of saturation.
ACI Materials Journal/November-December 2006
It can be noted that S1 and S2 follow the same trend. where Ad equals the peak-to-peak amplitude of direct wave
However, there is a slight difference in the order of magnitude. signal normalized with respect to peak-to-peak amplitude of
For instance, between dry and saturated concrete, the amplitude air wave signal; Ar equals the peak-to-peak amplitude of
of S1 decreases by 54%, whereas the amplitude of S2 reflected wave signal normalized with respect to peak-to-
decreases by 65%. This can be explained by the fact that the peak amplitude of air wave signal; and W equals the total
distances traveled by the two waves are not the same. The volume of water evaporated at 70 °C.
direct wave travels a fixed transmitter-receiver distance It is important to point out that Eq. (7) is relative to the test
given by the manufacturer as 5.9 cm; whereas the reflected conditions of this study, mainly the depth and the geometry
wave travels a distance of approximately 17.05 cm (distance of the reflector. Consequently, it can not be used in other
varies with the thickness of the sample). Also, it can be conditions such as the using of cylindrical reflector (steel
observed that the difference between the value of S1 and S2 reinforcing bar). In contrast, the existence of the direct wave
amplitudes is not constant but decreases when the degree of does not require the presence of any reflector. The validity of
saturation increases. In the case of Mixture 3, this difference Eq. (6), however, is currently limited to ordinary concrete
is equal to 0.32 for dry concrete (S = 0). In contrast, for saturated mixtures having w/c varying between 0.5 and 0.78.
concrete, S1 and S2 amplitudes give approximately the same Moreover, Eq. (6) involves amplitudes of direct wave signals
value and the difference is 0.05. recorded using the GSSI 5100 radar antenna (1.5 GHz) and
Figure 16 represents the correlation between the amplitude processed as presented previously. Then, the model
of S1 and S2 for all the mixtures at the different degrees of described by Eq. (6) must be extended to other types of
saturation tested. The coefficient of correlation (R2), which concrete. In particular, complementary studies have to be
is equal to 0.95, indicates that S1 and S2 amplitudes can be carried out to widen the investigated porosity range from 10 to
correlated at each degree of saturation. Therefore, it can be 20%. The extrapolation of this model on site needs also some
inferred that S1 and S2 amplitudes provide similar information improvements regarding for example the effect of low-depth
regarding the concrete moisture. steel reinforcing bar on the direct wave. At last, although the
direct wave presents many advantages regarding the
Relationship between signal amplitude and
volumetric water content
The variations of S1 and S2 amplitude with respect to the
volumetric water content in the concrete pores for all the
mixtures tested are plotted in Fig. 17. The range of variation
of the volumetric water content is between 0 and 16.2%. This
volume represents the total evaporated water that includes
free water and a part of physically bound water. The graph
shows a good linear relationship between the amplitude and
volumetric water content with a R2 of 0.95 for both S1 and S2.
Taking into account the non-significant effect of w/c upon
radar signals amplitude for the concretes tested in this study,
it can be concluded that the total volumetric water content in
concrete pores is the most influential parameter regarding
the variation of radar signals amplitude. The relationships
obtained between the amplitude of S1 (Ad), S2 (Ar), and the
volumetric water content (W) are expressed in Eq. (6) and
Eq. (7), respectively.
Fig. 16—Correlation between amplitude of direct and
Ad = –0.02W + 0.57 (6) reflected waves for all mixtures tested.

Ar = –0.044W + 0.96 (7)

Fig. 17—Relationship between amplitude of direct and

reflected waves and volumetric water content for all mixtures
Fig. 15—Pore size distribution of all mixtures tested. tested.

ACI Materials Journal/November-December 2006 425

characterization of concrete moisture, the depth of
investigation related to this wave is difficult to determine
experimentally. Previous work suggests that this depth lies
between λ/2 and λ, where λ is the wavelength of the pulse.21
CONCLUSIONS
In order to assess the ability of radar system to characterize
concrete moisture, a comprehensive research study was
undertaken to evaluate the effect of the degree of saturation,
w/c, and volumetric water content on the amplitude of radar
direct and reflected waves. Four concretes with w/c of 0.5,
0.6, 0.7, and 0.78 were investigated. The tests were carried
out on 72 samples saturated to various degrees between 0
and 100%. The results show a clear sensitivity of the radar
signal amplitude to the concrete moisture. The conclusions
stemming from this research work are the following:
1. The direct and reflected wave amplitudes linearly
decrease with increasing degree of saturation. The amplitude
of the direct wave decreases by approximately 58% and the
amplitude of reflected wave decreases by approximately
69%. This is related to the increase of the real and imaginary
part of complex permittivity with respect to concrete moisture;
2. The COV results show good reproducibility of radar
measurement and the experimental dispersion of direct wave
amplitude is lower than that of the reflected wave;
3. For all the mixtures tested in this study, the w/c does not
significantly affect the amplitude of direct and reflected waves;
4. The variation of direct and reflected wave amplitudes,
with respect to the degree of saturation, shows the same
trend. The direct and reflected wave amplitudes can be well
correlated at each degree of saturation. This suggests that the
two waves provide similar information regarding the moisture
of concrete; and
5. Irrespective of w/c and the depth of reflectors, a good
relationship was established between direct wave amplitude
and volumetric water content lying between 0 and 16.2%.
This relationship can be used to estimate the water volume
for ordinary concrete having w/c between 0.50 and 0.78,
using a ground-coupled antenna at 1.5 GHz.
For a more complete validation of the results, further studies
are being implemented. Because a small range of w/c values
of concrete tested in this study, other mixtures with low w/c
such as self-compacting and high performance concrete will
be tested. A modeling study using a finite difference time
domain code is being implemented to estimate the penetration
depth of the direct wave. Finally, in-place measurements will
be made in order to validate the laboratory results.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support provided by
NSERC Industrial Research Chair on Nondestructive Testing of Concrete
Structures, Canada and Réseau Génie Civil & Urbain (RGCU), France.
NOTATION
M = mass of concrete sample, kg
Md = mass of dry concrete sample (S = 0), kg
Ms = mass of saturated concrete sample (S = 1), kg
S = degree of saturation
V = concrete volume, m3
Vw = water volume, m3
W = volumetric water content by percent of concrete volume, %
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