Coaxial/cylindrical transition line for broadband permittivity measurement of civil engineering materials

A one-port coaxial/cylindrical transition line is considered for the broadband complex permittivity measurement of civil engineering materials. Cylindrical samples of heterogeneous material with large aggregate dimensions (up to 25 mm) can be measured over a frequency range from 50 MHz to 1.6 GHz. The choice of this line technology results in the simplification of the sample machining and enhancement in the high frequency limit, in comparison to the classical coaxial line technology. From a mode-matching technique, the relation between the material complex permittivity and the reflection coefficient at the coaxial/cylindrical transition is obtained including axisymmetric higher order modes excited at the transition. Once the line is calibrated using a specific calibration kit, complex permittivities are retrieved from an iterative optimization procedure. Preliminary results obtained for a set of bituminous concrete samples with different porosities and natures of rock aggregates are shown.