Dielectric characterization of hot-mix asphalt at the smart road using GPR

I. L. Al-Qadi, A. Loulizi, S. Lahouar

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

Abstract

To better interpret collected ground penetrating radar (GPR) data, a project is currently underway at the Virginia Smart Road. Twelve different flexible pavement sections and a continuously reinforced concrete rigid pavement section are incorporated in the road design. Thirty-five copper plates were placed at different layer interfaces throughout the pavement sections. The copper plates serve as a reflecting material and thus allow the determination of layers' dielectric constant over the GPR frequency range. An initial development of a method to calculate the complex dielectric constant of hot-mix asphalt over the frequency range of 750 to 1750 MHz using an air-coupled GPR system is presented. Utilizing GPR data, this method will be used to predict changes of the dielectric properties of the different SuperPave mixes used at the Smart Road over time. The method is based on equating the overall reflection coefficient as obtained from the radar measurements with the calculated reflection coefficient using electromagnetic theory. The measured overall reflection coefficient is obtained by dividing the reflected frequency spectrum over the incident one. The theoretical overall reflection coefficient is obtained using the multiple reflection model. A Gauss-Newton method is then used to solve for the complex dielectric constant.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)176-181
Number of pages6
JournalProceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume4084
StatePublished - 2000
Externally publishedYes
EventGPR 2000: The 8th International Conference on Ground Penetrating Radar - Goldcoast, Aust
Duration: May 23 2000May 26 2000

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Applied Mathematics
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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