Simulation of GPR response for 2-D and 3-D synthetic models for geotechnical applications, case study: detection of subsurface along Isfahan main power line tunnel

Document Type : Original Article

Abstract

In this research, the GPR method has been employed to identify subsurface in-homogeneities along Isfahan main power
line  tunnel  as  an  application  in  geotechnical  engineering  practices.  To  this  goal,  the  GPR  response  of  common  2D
synthetic models including horizontal cylinder, 2D prism and arbitrary polygon corresponding to targets encountered
in  usual  geotechnical  practices  were  simulated  first.  To  achieve  this  objective,  an  improved  2D  finite  difference
algorithm  developed  for  forward  modeling  in  frequency domain,  was  used  in  MATLAB  programming  environment.
Next,  the  GPR  response  of  3D  synthetic  models  containing  vertical  cylinder  and  sphere  (representing  usual  form  of
cavities)  was  produced  by  means  of  GPRMAX3D  software  for  more  detailed  and  realistic  interpretations.  To  detect
probable subsurface in-homogeneities including different types of manmade buried installations, subsidence and buried
wells along the Isfahan main electric power line tunnel, 14 longitudinal GPR profiles covering more than 1200 meters
along  the  tunnel  axis  were  surveyed.  The  data  were  collected  using  a  250  MHz  GPR  system  equipped  with  shielded
antennas.  The  interpretation  of  final  radargrams  after  applying  different  filters  revealed  that  the  GPR  method  is
capable  of  detecting  the  location  and  type  of  subsurface  in-homogeneities.  In  order  to  verify  the  performance  and
ability of GPR method in solving geotechnical problems encountered in real geological conditions and in particular the
results  obtained  in  current  case  study,  a  vertical  borehole  was  drilled  at  one  of  in-homogeneities  found  on  the
radargrams which had been interpreted as a buried abandoned well. The result was in agreement with the respective
interpreted radargram.
 

Keywords


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