Analysis of Cross-Borehole Pulse Radar Signatures on a Terminated Tunnel With Various Penetration Lengths

A cross-borehole pulse radar system was operated to detect an intrusive man-made tunnel terminated just 1.2 m away from the line of sight between a newly drilled borehole pair at a tunnel test site. Unlike conventional radar signatures on a fully penetrated air-filled tunnel, the relatively fast arrival in the measured time-of-arrival (TOA) profile was highly suppressed at the depth of the terminated tunnel. To analyze the TOA contraction at a terminated tunnel without drilling additional borehole pairs, a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulator is implemented using the accurately measured location information on the terminated tunnel and borehole pair. The relation curves between the time advance in the TOA profile and the penetration length of the terminated tunnel are plotted in the high and low limits of electrical properties of background rock. To verify the accuracy of our FDTD simulated results, the wideband complex permittivity profiles of the core rock samples’ boring at the tunnel test site are measured using an open-ended coaxial probe method. The calculated time advances agree well with the measured values in both cases of fully penetrated and closely terminated borehole pairs in the test site. The presented time advance curves for various penetration lengths will be a valuable guideline on detection of a terminated tunnel in site.