Three-dimensional microwave imaging technology for damage detection of concrete structures

Various nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques have been studied to locate steel rebars or dowel, and to detect invisible damage such as voids and cracks inside concrete and debonding between rebars and concrete caused by corrosions and earthquakes. In this study, the authors developed 3-dimensional (3D) electromagnetic (EM) imaging technology to detect such damage and to identify exact location of steel rebars or dowel. The authors have developed sub-surface two-dimensional (2D) imaging technique using tomographic antenna array in previous works. In this study, extending the earlier analytical and experimental works on 2D image reconstruction, a 3D microwave imaging system using tomographic antenna array was developed, and multi-frequency technique was applied to improve quality of the reconstructed image and to reduce background noises. This paper presents the analytical expressions of numerical focusing procedures for 3D image reconstruction and numerical simulation to study the resolution of the system and the effectiveness of multi-frequency technique. Also, the design of 4x4 antenna array with switching devices is introduced as a preliminary study for the final design of whole array.