Principles of Thermography and Radar for Bridge Deck Assessment
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 116, Issue 5
Abstract
Traditional methods of bridge deck condition assessment are slow, labor‐intensive, intrusive to traffic, and unreliable. Two new technologies, radar and infrared thermography, which have recently been introduced, show promise for producing rapid and accurate condition assessment for bridge decks. These technologies are being applied without the benefit of a firm physical understanding of their inherent capabilities and limitations. This paper discusses the physical principles upon which these techniques are based, and proposes simple physical models for the prediction of radar and infrared response to various bridge deck conditions. Parameter studies are carried out using these models to predict the radar and infrared response to moisture, chloride, delamination, and deck geometry. The model study results show the range of sensitivity and the inherent limitations of these two techniques. These results have led to the suggestion of a predictive technique that has been used in field studies of repaired and rehabilitated asphalt‐overlaid decks. This technique has been shown to predict the area of deterioration to within 5% of total deck area.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Transportation Engineering
Volume 116 • Issue 5 • September 1990
Pages: 583 - 601
Copyright
Copyright © 1990 ASCE.
History
Published online: Sep 1, 1990
Published in print: Sep 1990
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