Synthetic Aperture Radar Image Processing Techniques for Damage Detection of FRP-concrete Systems

Electromagnetic imaging enables researchers and engineers to assess the surface and subsurface condition of concrete structures using radar and microwave sensors. Among existing radar imaging methods, synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging offers flexible resolution for various purposes in condition assessment. In this paper, two novel SAR image processing techniques are reported for the subsurface condition assessment of FRP(fiber reinforced polymer)-strengthened concrete systems; mathematical morphology (MM) and the K-R-I transform. Glass FRP (GFRP) and carbon CFRP (CFRP) strengthened concrete cylinders are used as examples. From our experimental results, it is found that both techniques are capable of quantifying SAR images for condition assessment. It is also found that Euler's number and the coefficient of correlation of K-R-I curves of SAR images can be used for monitoring subsurface changes in FRP-concrete systems.