Aiming at improving the analysis precision of reflection waves in nondestructive detection for civil engineering foundations

the characters of Morlet and Marr wavelets and the properties of their transforms are thoroughly investigated and the complementary advantages of these two wavelets in reflection wave analysis are discussed in detail. By combining the advantages of these two wavelets

a novel method for reflection wave analysis is proposed

which utilizes power density spectrum of Morlet wavelet to extract the dynamic characteristics of reflection waves and employs modulus spectrum of Marr wavelet to capture the singular features of reflection waves

in addition involves the key technique of using Shannon entropy of wavelet transform to determine the optimal mother wavelet of Morlet wavelet. Damage patterns may be identified in terms of the dynamic characteristics of reflection waves and damage positions may be located in terms of the singular features of reflection waves. Thus a promising technology is constituted for nondestructive detection of civil engineering foundations. The basic damage patterns of civil engineering foundations are demonstrated in the physical model experiment

and the feasibility and effectiveness of the technology are validated by both numerical and physical experiments.