Electrically-conductive asphalt mastic: Temperature dependence and heating efficiency

Abstract

Asphalt mastic, a pitch-matrix composite, consists of bitumen and mineral fillers (very fine aggregates), that fills the voids created by coarser aggregates in asphalt concrete. In this study, asphalt mastic was modified with carbon fiber (CF) and graphite powder (GP) to produce single-phase (containing only CF) and two-phase (containing both CF and GP) electrically-conductive asphalt mastic (ECAM) for anti-icing and deicing applications. Volume resistivities of ECAMs were measured at two different temperatures and the influence of temperature on electrical conductivity was evaluated, revealing that reduction in temperature enhances the ECAM's electrical conductivity. After analyzing the volume resistivity data for both single-phase and twophase ECAM specimens, heat generation efficiency of single-phase ECAM was investigated at a conductive material dosage slightly higher than the optimum. The heat generation efficiency was evaluated at a belowfreezing temperature by performing active infrared thermography (IRT). Based on the active IRT analysis results, it was found that single-phase ECAM at the selected CF content is capable of generating enough heat for melting ice and snow or preventing accumulation of snow and formation of ice.

Microwave Healing Performance of Asphalt Mixture Containing Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) Slag and Graphene Nanoplatelets (GNPs)

“…According to other studies [27][28][29][30], the electrical resistivity of the mixture slightly decreases with the additive content, until a critical value, called percolation threshold, where resistivity sharply decreases. The effect of adding slag or graphene on the electrical resistivity of the mixture is shown in Figure 12.…”

“…In the case of induction heating, electrical currents are induced by adding conductive particles in the composition of the mixture, and the heat is generated by the Joule effect [24][25][26]. Several additives and respective dosages were studied in order to maximize the conductivity of the mixture, such as steel wool, steel fibers, graphite, carbon black and carbon fibers [24,[27][28][29][30]. Another heating technique is microwave heating, that was found to be more effective than induction heating to heal cracks in asphalt roads [19].…”

A Review of the Contribution of Mechanomutable Asphalt Materials Towards Addressing the Upcoming Challenges of Asphalt Pavements

“…While these salts have been shown to be economically accessible and effective, they affect the roadside soil, underground and surface water and vegetation integrity [43,44], as well as the long-term structural performance of the road infrastructure and vehicle health [45]. [30,48,53] With respect to the second type of maintenance operation, with the aim to transform roads into more resilient structures through self-healing, recent research efforts have designed and evaluated the use of encapsulated healing agents (oily rejuvenators) [54][55][56] and the effect of resting periods [57]. As it stands, this area is somewhat newer and has undergone less research.…”

Self-Sensing Alkali-Activated Materials: A Review

“…In a civil engineering context, self-sensing materials are components that can simultaneously detect measurands without the need of additional sensing instruments. Such materials include self-sensing cementitious materials [1,2], bricks [3,4], aggregates [5,6] and pavements [7,8]. In terms of self-sensing cementitious materials, extensive research has been carried out in both ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and alkali activated materials (AAM).…”