Masonry texture reconstruction for building seismic assessment: Practical evaluation and potentials of Ground Penetrating Radar methodology

Within the context of masonry texture identification and geometrical reconstruction, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) could emerge as an effective survey method, due to its high-resolution, scalable and non-destructive approach. This study has methodologically assessed operational advantages and weaknesses of the methodology when implemented for a seismic assessment purpose. In particular, the scope was to examine acquisition and post-processing strategies that could reliably highlight the presence or absence of specific construction features on which to develop a quantitative indication of the quality of the masonry. For this purpose, a high frequency 3D GPR acquisition on a plastered masonry wall incorporating different brick geometries, has been carried out. The acquisition was made along two different survey directions and analysing unfocussed and migrated radar slices. Thanks to a favourable antenna pattern alignment and achieved resolution enhancement, the focussed GPR data collected along the vertical mortar joints orientation have proven to be able to properly reconstruct the wall texture, providing therefore detailed and crucial information on its geometrical appearance.