M-Sequence UWB Radar for Industrial Applications

In our installation at AB Sandvik Materials Technology, we have shown that by using a nondestructive UWB Radar technique it is possible to visualize in real-time the ongoing process inside the furnace behind a 0.5 m thick ceramic wall. Since the operating temperature inside the furnace is 1200 C, there is today no other known method capable of visualizing the process for the operator of the furnace. The system is therefore designed to sustain high temperatures and powerful electromagnetic disturbances while performing measurement with wide dynamics and high stability. The design of this radar is based on the idea of transmitting a continuous m-sequence and then detecting the correlated impulse response (see figure below). The wide bandwidth is a requirement for obtaining high spatial accuracy and resolution but puts further requirements on the design of the antennas and the electronics. Our results show that with this technique it is possible to determine the deformation of the steel billets inside the furnace with an accuracy of less than 5 mm. The radar system is also able to detect deformations in the furnace wall