EconoScan: Affordable Microwave Imaging for Nondestructive Strength Testing of Bituminous Materials

This paper presents a novel, low-cost, and portable microwave sensing system for non-destructive classification of bituminous pavement materials using a log-periodic feedline-based ring resonator integrated with a software-defined radio (SDR) platform. Traditional mechanical tests, such as Marshall stability and fatigue testing, are often time-consuming, destructive, and lack sensitivity to microstructural variations. In contrast, the proposed system measures attenuation and group delay with high spatial resolution at 400 MHz and 600 MHz. These parameters are extracted from the frequency-domain response using the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT). The system successfully distinguishes between bituminous concrete (BC) and open graded friction course (OGFC) samples, achieving a classification accuracy of 97.42%. Its low cost and high portability make it a promising tool for real-time, field-level pavement diagnostics.