Novel conductive wearing course using a graphite, carbon fiber, and epoxy resin mixture for active de-icing of asphalt concrete pavement

Ice and snow on road surfaces can affect driving safety severely and cause accidents. Numerous active snow and ice removal technologies, such as conductive asphalt concrete, heating cables and pipes, have been developed in recent years. However, they reduce the lifetime of the pavement and cannot be applied on the existing roads. In this study, a novel conductive ultra-thin anti-skidding wearing course (CUAWC) is firstly proposed, which consists of a lower conductive layer and an upper wearing course. The conductive layer consists of a mixture of graphite, carbon fiber, and an epoxy resin adhesive. The optimal proportion of each additive was determined using an electrical conductivity test. The mass percolation threshold of graphite and carbon fiber in the conductive mixture were 25 and 4%, respectively. Freeze–thaw cycle and cyclic loading tests were conducted to evaluate the long-term skid resistance and resistivity fluctuation rate of the CUAWC. Finally, a laboratory de-icing test and a field snow melting test were performed. The CUAWC specimens had good skid resistance, good durability and stable resistivity, even after multiple freezing–thawing cycles and a million load cycles. Furthermore, the proposed CUAWC has lower resistivity and higher conductivity than traditional conductive asphalt concrete and can be laid on top of existing road surfaces.