Multi-Monostatic Interferometric Radar for Bridge Monitoring

In recent years, interferometric radar has been extensively used as a sensor for static and dynamic monitoring of bridges. Generally speaking, a radar can only detect displacement components along the view direction. As the movement of a real bridge or of a large structure can be rather complex, this limitation can be a significant drawback in engineering practice. In order to overcome this limitation, in this article, a multi-monostatic radar for retrieving the displacement vector is proposed. It is basically a multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) interferometric radar, equipped with a transponder that consists of a pair of antennae, with relative amplifiers, connected to the radar with a radiofrequency (RF) cable. This arrangement allows for the simultaneous detection of two independent displacement components. The radar was successfully tested both in a controlled environment and in the field on a real bridge crossing the Arno river in Florence, Italy.

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W-band MIMO GB-SAR for Bridge Testing/Monitoring

Electronics ◽

10.3390/electronics10182261 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (18) ◽

pp. 2261

Author(s):

Lapo Miccinesi ◽

Tommaso Consumi ◽

Alessandra Beni ◽

Massimiliano Pieraccini

Keyword(s):

Multiple Input Multiple Output ◽

Dynamic Monitoring ◽

Bridge Testing ◽

Large Structures ◽

Stay Cables ◽

W Band ◽

Multiple Input ◽

Input Multiple Output ◽

Single Operator ◽

Wind Turbine Towers

Interferometric radars are widely used for static and dynamic monitoring of large structures such as bridges, culverts, wind turbine towers, chimneys, masonry towers, stay cables, buildings, and monuments. Most of these radars operate in Ku-band (17 GHz). Nevertheless, a higher operative frequency could allow the design of smaller, lighter, and faster equipment. In this paper, a fast MIMO-GBSAR (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output Ground-Based Synthetic Aperture Radar) operating in W-band (77 GHz) has been proposed. The radar can complete a scan in less than 8 s. Furthermore, as its overall dimension is smaller than 230 mm, it can be easily fixed to the head of a camera tripod, which makes its deployment in the field very easy, even by a single operator. The performance of this radar was tested in a controlled environment and in a realistic case study.

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Advanced Ground-Based Real and Synthetic Aperture Radar

10.36253/978-88-5518-377-2 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Lapo Miccinesi

Keyword(s):

Displacement Vector ◽

Multiple Input Multiple Output ◽

Radar Signal ◽

Research Activity ◽

Acquisition Rate ◽

Remote Sensing Technique ◽

Multiple Input ◽

Input Multiple Output ◽

The Fourier Transform ◽

Scientific Topic

Ground-based/terrestrial radar interferometry (GBRI) is a scientific topic of increasing interest in recent years. The GBRI is used in several field as remote sensing technique for monitoring natural environment (landslides, glacier, and mines) or infrastructures (bridges, towers). These sensors provide the displacement of targets by measuring the phase difference between sending and receiving radar signal. If the acquisition rate is enough the GBRI can provide the natural frequency, e.g. by calculating the Fourier transform of displacement. The research activity, presented in this work, concerns design and development of some advanced GBRI systems. These systems are related to the following issue: detection of displacement vector, Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) and radars with 3D capability.

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