Physical simulation and application of a new TEM configuration

In some applications, especially for tunnel surveys and ancient tomb investigations, the scale of survey location is so small that it is impossible to lay a large enough transmitter loop for detection. A small-scale and high-power Transient Electromagnetic (TEM) transmitter configuration must be adapted to detect longer distance or greater depth. Redesigning the TEM surveying configuration may facilitate improving signal penetration and precision of TEM soundings. Based on physical simulation, a newly designed special-loop-source TEM survey configuration has been introduced, which employs four square apertures within a single large transmitter loop to excite stronger fields. The primary and secondary fields have been measured using both the new special-loop system and standard normal single loop TEM configuration for different receiver-transmitter separations and for different target depths. The response curves were compared, revealing that the primary field intensity and the secondary field response were improved by the special-loop transmitter system as compared to the standard system. The new special-loop configuration can be used for tunnel TEM prediction and other TEM investigations. A case study was conducted on tunnel forecasting in Hubei Province, China. This terra TEM survey showed that it is an effective and successful method for exploring and predicting challenging geological structures ahead of a tunnel wall during excavation.