Ground Penetrating Radar

1. AMCOM Fragment Scanning System Sponsored By • Ground Penetrating Radar • GPR is a non-destructive imaging method that uses radar pulses to image the subsurface • The radar pulses used are in the microwave band of the radio spectrum • How GPR Works? • GPR is similar to a metal detector • The GPR system sends out thousands of RF frequency pulses into the ground • The frequencies that are reflected back return to the antenna • Frequency analysis of the reflected RF energy allows correlation of different material compositions in the subsurface • System Diagrams • How Industrial Radiography Works • Similar to medical radiography, industrial radiography uses an X-ray source to penetrate a sample with high-energy radiation onto a film or a digital detector • This creates a 2D image of the different materials in the sample Adam Anderson, Will Barrett, Asato Tashiro • Background Information • AMRDEC is the Weapons Integration & Development Directorate of the US Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development, & Engineering Center • They perform a variety of munitions and warhead test programs • AMRDEC ‘s test facility is located in Huntsville, AL • Problem • Shrapnel X/Y location and mass is analyzed manually • Consumes up to 9600 man-hours of valuable time • Results in high operating costs • Approach • Implement an automated and portable system that will scan the panels, and output an image mapping of the fragments • Use image processing program to analyze fragment images, gather information on X/Y location, size, width, length, and perimeter • Industrial Radiography • Industrial Radiography is another non-destructive detection method which utilizes X-rays and gamma rays to view materials Image Processing • Original X-Ray • Inverted Image • Gray-scale Reduction 2MHz Handheld GPR GPR Slice • System Diagrams • Processed Image Data