VERIFICATION OF STEEL PLACEMENT IN PORTLAND CEMENT CONCRETE USING SHORT-PULSE RADAR TECHNIQUES

THERE IS A NEED FOR A RAPID, NON-DESTRUCTIVE METHOD TO TEST FOR PROPER STEEL PLACEMENT IN PORTLAND CEMENT PAVEMENTS. ISTHE GOAL OF THIS PROPOSED PROGRAM TO DEMONSTRATE THE FEASIBILITY OF USING SHORT-PULSE, GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR AS A MEANS OF RAPID STEEL LOCATION IN CONCRETE PAVEMENT. A GENERAL BACKGROUND IN GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR THEORY IS PRESENTED. LABORATORY AND FIELD MEASUREMENTS USING A PROTOTYPE GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR SYSTEM WILL BE PERFORMED. BASED ON THE RESULTS OF THE MEASUREMENT PROGRAM,A DESIGN FOR A PAVEMENT STEEL LOCATION SYSTEM USING SHORT-PULSE RADAR WILL BE SUBMITTED. THE SHORT-PULSE RADAR SYSTEMS UTILIZED IN THIS PROGRAM ARE OWNED BY OR AVAILABLE TO SYNTEK AND NO NEW EQUIPMENT DEVELOPMENT WILL BE REQUIRED FOR PHASE I.