Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is a shallow geophysical method for detecting and locating subsurface targets. The GPR image echo characteristics of complex underground structures can be obtained by carrying out GPR forward modeling research. The traditional finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method has low efficiency and accuracy. The alternating direction implicit FDTD (ADI-FDTD) algorithm surmounts the stability limitations of the traditional FDTD method, making it possible to select a larger time step for higher computational efficiency. For circular underground structures, a pseudowave produced by the ladder approximation method can be corrected using the surface conformal technique. This paper proposes a high-efficiency and high-accuracy GPR forward modeling method that combines the ADI-FDTD algorithm and surface conformal technology. The performance of the conformal ADI-FDTD algorithm is verified by a simple two-layer model. Based on the proposed algorithm, the GPR image features of three complex underground structure models are obtained. Finally, a field experiment is used to support the accuracy and usefulness of the conformal ADI-FDTD algorithm. The numerical simulation results and experimental results show that the conformal ADI-FDTD algorithm reduces the pseudodiffraction wave caused by the ladder approximation method and can significantly improve the computing efficiency for complex underground structure models.

Non-aqueous reactive polymer grouting technology has been widely used in the repair engineering of dikes and dams with shallow diseases. By using the finite difference time-domain method and perfectly matched layer boundary conditions, the calculation model of dikes and dams with shallow diseases such as water-filled cave, air-filled cave and incompact area is established. The propagation process of electromagnetic waves of ground-penetrating radar in dikes and dams with shallow diseases using polymer grouting repair is simulated, and the forward simulation profiles and single-channel waveforms are obtained. The propagation characteristics such as waveform amplitude, waveform shape, transmission time, and reflection time are compared and analyzed. The results show that the forward simulation profiles of dikes and dams with water-filled caves before and after polymer grouting repair present two clusters of hyperbolas, but three clusters of hyperbolas with different amplitudes were observed at 50% repair. The amplitude of the hyperbola and the single-channel reflected waves before repair and 50% repair of the cave and incompact area are greater than those of 100% repair. The propagation characteristics of ground-penetrating radar can effectively explain the degree of polymer grouting repair for dikes and dams with shallow diseases, and provide a theoretical basis for using the ground-penetrating radar to evaluate the effect of polymer grouting technology to repair dikes and dams with shallow diseases.