Integrated Approach to Simultaneously Determine 3D Location and Size of Rebar in GPR Data
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 34, Issue 5
Abstract
The precise determination of reinforcement rebar information of constructed facilities is a significant challenge faced by many practitioners in the areas of structural health monitoring (SHM), facility management (FM), and building maintenance and operation. Practitioners commonly use ground penetrating radar (GPR) to determine the horizontal location, depth, and size of rebar based on the reflections in GPR data. However, due to inherent difficulties within the GPR data, such as the unknown time zero, the existence of strong noise, and the blurry signals, simultaneously and accurately determining all three parameters is a challenging task. To tackle this issue, this paper proposes an integrated approach based on pattern recognition and curve-fitting principles to simultaneously determine rebar’s horizontal location, depth, and size. The presented method has been validated on several scanning trials of a shear wall in an in-service concrete structure. Results of conducting the experiments are promising and reveal that (1) the proposed method can identify the zero offset within the GPR scan, eliminate the noise impact in the GPR signal, and extract critical rebar information from the attenuated signal; (2) by implementing through a real-world application, this integrated method could successfully solve the coupling issue and simultaneously determine rebar’s horizontal location, depth, and size; (3) the rebars’ horizontal locations in the test scenarios are consistent, with mean absolute errors of measured depths and sizes of 6.73% and 6.19%, respectively; and (4) considering a range of each rebar size, all rebars are measured correctly.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code generated or used during the study are proprietary or confidential in nature and may only be provided with restrictions.
References
Agred, K., G. Klysz, and J. P. Balayssac. 2018. “Location of reinforcement and moisture assessment in reinforced concrete with a double receiver GPR antenna.” Constr. Build. Mater. 188 (Nov): 1119–1127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.08.190.
Al-Qadi, I. L., and S. Lahouar. 2005. “Measuring rebar cover depth in rigid pavements with ground-penetrating radar.” Transp. Res. Rec. 1907 (1): 80–85. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361198105190700109.
Asadi, P., M. Gindy, M. Alvarez, and A. Asadi. 2020. “A computer vision based rebar detection chain for automatic processing of concrete bridge deck GPR data.” Automat. Constr. 112: 103106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2020.103106.
Benedetto, A., and L. Pajewski. 2015. Civil engineering applications of ground penetrating radar. Berlin: Springer.
Breysse, D., G. Klysz, X. Dérobert, C. Sirieix, and J. F. Lataste. 2008. “How to combine several non-destructive techniques for a better assessment of concrete structures.” Cem. Concr. Res. 38 (6): 783–793. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2008.01.016.
Bungey, J. H. 2004. “Sub-surface radar testing of concrete: A review.” Constr. Build. Mater. 18 (1): 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0950-0618(03)00093-X.
Chang, C. W., C. H. Lin, and H. S. Lien. 2009. “Measurement radius of reinforcing steel bar in concrete using digital image GPR.” Constr. Build. Mater. 23 (2): 1057–1063. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2008.05.018.
Clem, D. J., T. Schumacher, and J. P. Deshon. 2015. “A consistent approach for processing and interpretation of data from concrete bridge members collected with a hand-held GPR device.” Constr. Build. Mater. 86 (Jul): 140–148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2015.03.105.
Daniels, D. J. 2004. Ground penetrating radar. 2nd ed. London: Institution of Electrical Engineers.
Dérobert, X., J. Iaquinta, G. Klysz, and J. P. Balayssac. 2008. “Use of capacitive and GPR techniques for the non-destructive evaluation of cover concrete.” NDT and E Int. 41 (1): 44–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ndteint.2007.06.004.
Dinh, K., N. Gucunski, and T. H. Duong. 2018. “An algorithm for automatic localization and detection of rebars from GPR data of concrete bridge decks.” Autom. Constr. 89 (May): 292–298. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2018.02.017.
Dou, Q., L. Wei, D. R. Magee, and A. G. Cohn. 2016. “Real-time hyperbola recognition and fitting in GPR data.” IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens. 55 (1): 51–62. https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2016.2592679.
GPR Concrete. 2020. “3D GPR grid scanning.” Accessed March 2, 2020. https://gprconcrete.com/gpr/3d-gpr-grid-scanning/.
GSSI (Geophysical Survey Systems Inc.). 2019a. “Concrete handbook.” Accessed February 27, 2020. https://www.geophysical.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/GSSI-Concrete-Handbook.pdf.
GSSI (Geophysical Survey Systems Inc.). 2019b. “Explore our range of products.” Accessed October 29, 2019. https://www.geophysical.com/products.
Hasan, M. I., and N. Yazdani. 2016. “An experimental and numerical study on embedded rebar diameter in concrete using ground penetrating radar.” Chin. J. Eng. 2016: 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/9714381.
Kaur, P., K. J. Dana, F. A. Romero, and N. Gucunski. 2015. “Automated GPR rebar analysis for robotic bridge deck evaluation.” IEEE Trans. Cybern. 46 (10): 2265–2276. https://doi.org/10.1109/TCYB.2015.2474747.
Khan, U. S., and W. Al-Nuaimy. 2010. “Background removal from GPR data using eigenvalues.” In Proc., XIII Int. Conf. on Ground Penetrating Radar, 1–5. New York: IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICGPR.2010.5550079.
Klysz, G., J. P. Balayssac, and S. Laurens. 2004. “Spectral analysis of radar surface waves for non-destructive evaluation of cover concrete.” NDT and E Int. 37 (3): 221–227. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ndteint.2003.09.006.
Lachowicz, J., and M. Rucka. 2019. “A novel heterogeneous model of concrete for numerical modelling of ground penetrating radar.” Constr. Build. Mater. 227 (10): 116703. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.116703.
Lai, W. W. L., X. Derobert, and P. Annan. 2018. “A review of ground penetrating radar application in civil engineering: A 30-year journey from locating and testing to imaging and diagnosis.” NDT and E Int. 96 (Jun): 58–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ndteint.2017.04.002.
Lakshmi, K. A., and A. Rahamath. 2017. “Estimation of rebar diameter using ground penetrating radar.” Int. J. Adv. Sci. Res. Eng. 3 (1): 370–375.
Laurens, S., J. P. Balayssac, J. Rhazi, G. Klysz, and G. Arliguie. 2005. “Non-destructive evaluation of concrete moisture by GPR: Experimental study and direct modeling.” Mater. Struct. 38 (9): 827–832. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02481655.
Lei, W., F. Hou, J. Xi, Q. Tan, M. Xu, X. Jiang, and Q. Gu. 2019. “Automatic hyperbola detection and fitting in GPR B-scan image.” Autom. Constr. 106 (Oct): 102839. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2019.102839.
Leucci, G. 2012. “Ground penetrating radar: An application to estimate volumetric water content and reinforced bar diameter in concrete structures.” J. Adv. Concr. Technol. 10 (12): 411–422. https://doi.org/10.3151/jact.10.411.
Li, J., C. Liu, Z. Zeng, and L. Chen. 2015. “GPR signal denoising and target extraction with the CEEMD method.” IEEE Geosci. Remote Sens. Lett. 12 (8): 1615–1619. https://doi.org/10.1109/LGRS.2015.2415736.
Matthews, S. L. 1998. Applications of subsurface radar as an investigative technique. London: CRC.
Molyneaux, T. C. K., S. G. Millard, J. H. Bungey, and J. Q. Zhou. 1995. “Radar assessment of structural concrete using neural networks.” NDT and E Int. 28 (5): 281–288. https://doi.org/10.1016/0963-8695(95)00027-U.
Moré, J. J. 1978. “The Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm: Implementation and theory.” In Numerical analysis, 105–116. Berlin: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0067700.
Moselhi, O., M. Ahmed, and A. Bhowmick. 2017. “Multisensor data fusion for bridge condition assessment.” J. Perform. Constr. Facil. 31 (4): 04017008. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CF.1943-5509.0001000.
Pasolli, E., F. Melgani, and M. Donelli. 2009. “Automatic analysis of GPR images: A pattern-recognition approach.” IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sens. 47 (7): 2206–2217. https://doi.org/10.1109/TGRS.2009.2012701.
Puente, I., M. Solla, H. González-Jorge, and P. Arias. 2015. “NDT documentation and evaluation of the Roman Bridge of Lugo using GPR and mobile and static LiDAR.” J. Perform. Constr. Facil. 29 (1): 06014004. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CF.1943-5509.0000531.
Rathod, H., S. Debeck, R. Gupta, and B. Chow. 2019. “Applicability of GPR and a rebar detector to obtain rebar information of existing concrete structures.” Case Stud. Constr. Mater. 11 (Dec): e00240. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cscm.2019.e00240.
Ristic, A. V., D. Petrovacki, and M. Govedarica. 2009. “A new method to simultaneously estimate the radius of a cylindrical object and the wave propagation velocity from GPR data.” Comput. Geosci. 35 (8): 1620–1630. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2009.01.003.
Robert, A. 1998. “Dielectric permittivity of concrete between 50 MHz and 1 GHz and GPR measurements for building materials evaluation.” J. Appl. Geophys. 40 (1–3): 89–94. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0926-9851(98)00009-3.
Sensors & Software. 2019. “Conquest 100 brochure.” Accessed October 29, 2019. https://www.sensoft.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Conquest-100-brochure.pdf.
Sezgin, M., F. Kurugollu, I. Tasdelen, and S. Ozturk. 2004. “Real-time detection of buried objects by using GPR.” In Vol. 5415 of Detection and remediation technologies for mines and minelike targets IX, 447–455. Bellingham, WA: International Society for Optics and Photonics. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.541128.
US Radar. 2019. “Quantum mini concrete scanning.” Accessed October 29, 2019. https://usradar.com/quantum-mini-concrete-scanner/.
Utsi, V., and E. Utsi. 2004. “Measurement of reinforcement bar depths and diameters in concrete.” In Proc., 10th Int. Conf. on Grounds Penetrating Radar, 2004. GPR 2004, 659–662. New York: IEEE.
Wang, X., and S. Liu. 2017. “Noise suppressing and direct wave arrivals removal in GPR data based on Shearlet transform.” Signal Process. 132 (Mar): 227–242. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sigpro.2016.05.007.
Wei, X., and Y. Zhang. 2014. “Autofocusing techniques for GPR data from RC bridge decks.” IEEE J. Sel. Top. Appl. Earth Obs. Remote Sens. 7 (12): 4860–4868. https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTARS.2014.2321710.
Wight, J. K. 2016. Reinforced concrete: Mechanics and design. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Wiwatrojanagul, P., R. Sahamitmongkol, and S. Tangtermsirikul. 2018. “A method to detect lap splice in reinforced concrete using a combination of covermeter and GPR.” Constr. Build. Mater. 173 (Jun): 481–494. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.04.027.
Wiwatrojanagul, P., R. Sahamitmongkol, S. Tangtermsirikul, and N. Khamsemanan. 2017. “A new method to determine locations of rebars and estimate cover thickness of RC structures using GPR data.” Constr. Build. Mater. 140 (Jun): 257–273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2017.02.126.
Xiang, Z., A. Rashidi, and G. Ou. 2019a. “An improved convolutional neural network system for automatically detecting rebar in GPR data.” In Proc., ASCE 2019 ASCE Int. Conf. on Computing in Civil Engineering. Reston, VA: ASCE. https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784482438.054.
Xiang, Z., A. Rashidi, and G. G. Ou. 2019b. “States of practice and research on applying GPR technology for labeling and scanning constructed facilities.” J. Perform. Constr. Facil. 33 (5): 03119001. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CF.1943-5509.0001313.
Xu, X., T. Xia, A. Venkatachalam, and D. Huston. 2012. “Development of high-speed ultrawideband ground-penetrating radar for rebar detection.” J. Eng. Mech. 139 (3): 272–285. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EM.1943-7889.0000458.
Yelf, R. 2004. “Where is true time zero?” In Vol. 1 of Proc., 10th Int. Conf. on Grounds Penetrating Radar, 2004. GPR 2004, 279–282. New York: IEEE.
Zanzi, L., and D. Arosio. 2013. “Sensitivity and accuracy in rebar diameter measurements from dual-polarized GPR data.” Constr. Build. Mater. 48 (Nov): 1293–1301. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2013.05.009.
Zhan, R., and H. Xie. 2009. “GPR measurement of the diameter of steel bars in concrete specimens based on the stationary wavelet transform.” Insight-Non-Destr. Test. Condition Monit. 51 (3): 151–155. https://doi.org/10.1784/insi.2009.51.3.151.
Zhou, F., Z. Chen, H. Liu, J. Cui, B. Spencer, and G. Fang. 2018. “Simultaneous estimation of rebar diameter and cover thickness by a GPR-EMI dual sensor.” Sensors 18 (9): 2969. https://doi.org/10.3390/s18092969.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 34 • Issue 5 • October 2020
Copyright
© 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 9, 2020
Accepted: May 8, 2020
Published online: Jul 21, 2020
Published in print: Oct 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Dec 21, 2020
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.