Novel Asphalt Pavement with Directional Heat Conduction for Melting of Ice and Snow in Plateau and Cold areas

Abstract Because of the low temperature in plateau and cold areas, highway pavements are greatly affected by ice and snow, which typically lead to vehicle skidding, rollover, and even more severe traffic accidents. For infrastructure such as airports and roads, electric heating technology has been used for ice melting and snow removal with the advantage of using clean and renewable energy. However, the traditional electric heating pavement suffers from low thermal conductivity, energy scattering during the heating process, and the lack of an intelligent heating control system. To improve the efficiency of ice and snow melting and realize intelligent control, this study developed an innovative design for the heat conduction structure of the pavement. The proposed structure consists of the upper layer of the highway pavement, heat source layer, heat insulation layer, lower layer, and the base layer from top to bottom, which can realize directional heat conduction and heat insulation. The validity of the design is verified by thermal conductivity test, simulation test, and finite element modelling. The results hold scientific significance in terms of promoting snow melting pavement research and the development of new snow and ice melting technology. .