Application of Conductive Materials to Asphalt Pavement

Abstract

Snow-melting pavement technique is an advanced preservation method, which can prevent the forming of snow or ice on the pavement surface by increasing the temperature using an embedded heating system. The main scope of this study is to evaluate the impact of conductive additives on the heating efficiency. The electrical resistivity and thermal conductivity were considered to investigate effects of conductive additives, graphite, and carbon fibers on the snow-melting ability of asphalt mixtures. Also, the distribution of the conductive additives within the asphalt concrete body was investigated by microstructural imaging. An actual test was applied to simulate realistic heating for an asphalt concrete mixture. Thermal testing indicated that graphite and carbon fibers improve the snow-melting ability of asphalt mixes and their combination is more effective than when used alone. As observed in the microstructural image, carbon fibers show a long-range connecting effect among graphite conductive clusters and gather in bundles when added excessively. According to the actual test, adding the conductive additives helps improve snow-melting efficiency by shortening processing time and raising the surface temperature.