Journal of Guangzhou University(Natural Science Edition).
2023, 22(3):
1-9.
Affected by the environment, design, construction, and operation, there are hidden defects behind a shield tunnel, which endanger the safety of the tunnel. Ground penetrating radar( GPR) has been widely applied to the detection of hidden defects behind a shield tunnel. However, due to the shielding effect of the double layer rebar net inside the shield tunnel, the electromagnetic( EM) response characteristics of the void behind the concrete segment are not obvious. This paper applied finite difference time domain ( FDTD) method to simulate the detection of the air and waterfilled voids behind the shield tunnel with different sizes using GPR. Then, a laboratory experiment was performed to verify the accuracy of the simulated results. The results mean that simulated cubical voids change with different sizes, the reflections of the defects show the characteristics of hyperbola, cross or bowl shape. The bottom reflections also vary with certain regularities. Through the wavefield analysis, it can be indicated that the radar echo will be interfered with by the rebars terribly. Moreover, multiple EM wave reflections propagate inside the voids, and the propagation of EM waves show a significant difference between the air filled / water voids. In conclusion, the results of this paper can provide a reference for the data interpretation of the detection of hidden defects in shield tunnels.