Quantifying the impact of parameters of chloride-induced reinforcement corrosion on the GPR signal

Abstract

The sensitivity of the high-frequency ground penetrating radar (GPR) signal to changes within the reinforced concrete (RC) makes it a valuable tool for corrosion assessment of RC structures. The most important parameters in chloride-induced corrosion are moisture content, chloride content, and reinforcement diameter loss. The objective of this laboratory study was to investigate and quantify the influence of these parameters on the GPR signal. Of particular interest was to determine which of the observed parameters the GPR is most sensitive to. Furthermore, particular emphasis was placed on understanding the influence of corrosion products, which has not met the consensus in the existing literature. The parameters were studied on a total of forty-two specimens where the reflector of the GPR waves was the reinforcement embedded in the concrete specimen. Based on the experimental data, values of normalized amplitude related to the evaluation of corrosion by GPR were proposed.