Engineering properties and microwave heating induced ice-melting performance of asphalt mixture with activated carbon powder filler

Abstract In order to solve deicing issues of asphalt pavement through a eco-friendly and effective way, activated carbon powder (ACP) was utilized to partially replace the fillers in asphalt concrete to improve deicing ability of pavement by microwave heating. In this research, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to observe the microscopic morphology of ACP and mineral powder (MP), and their infiltration interface with asphalt. The engineering properties including rutting resistance, cracking resistance and moisture susceptibility of asphalt mixture were then investigated to evaluate the effect of ACP substitutions on the performance of asphalt mixture. Fillers, asphalt mastic, and asphalt mixture with different ACP substitutions were heated under microwave radiation and their microwave heating characteristics were studied using infrared thermal imager. The ice-melting characteristics of asphalt mixture with different ACP substitutions were described by infrared thermography and ice-melting speed. The results show that due to the porous structure and material properties of ACP, the infiltration effect between ACP and asphalt is better than that of MP and asphalt. With an increase of ACP substitution, the optimal asphalt content and moisture susceptibility of asphalt mixture increased slightly. The rutting resistance and low temperature crack resistance were improved significantly, while the moisture damage resistance was slightly sacrificed. Besides, the ACP could greatly improve the microwave heating efficiency of asphalt mastic and mixture. As the amount of ACP substitution increased, the microwave radiation energy utilization and ice-melting efficiency of asphalt mixture were improved via microwave heating.