Comprehensive performance evaluation of steel fiber-reinforced asphalt mixture for induction heating

As a high-efficiency non-contact heating technology, induction heating has shown great application prospect in melting snow and de-icing of asphalt pavement and induced self-healing of damage of asphalt mixture. In this research, 4 lengths of steel fiber and three fiber contents were adopted. The effect of different lengths and contents of steel fiber on the performances, including optimum asphalt content, high-temperature rutting resistance, low-temperature cracking resistance, freeze–thaw cycles resistance and thermal conductivity (TC), of asphalt mixture were studied in detail. Moreover, the induction heating rates (HRs) of asphalt mixture with different lengths and contents have also been investigated. Finally, the overall performances of asphalt mixture with different lengths of fiber were compared and analysed based on the radar chart method. The results show that when the length is 7 mm and the content is 4% of steel fiber, the optimum asphalt content, TC and HR of asphalt mixture were significantly improved. When the length is 5 mm and the content is 4% of steel fiber, the high-temperature rutting resistance, low-temperature cracking resistance and freeze–thaw cycles resistance were also significantly improved. The radar chart shows that the overall performances of asphalt mixture with 5 mm steel fiber are the best one.