Temperature responses of asphalt pavement structure constructed with phase change material by applying finite element method

Abstract Phase change material, PCM, which is a new type of additive for pavement engineering, has been studied for regulating the working temperature of pavement structure. By storing and releasing thermal energy via phase change, PCM is able to maintain the temperature of pavement structure in a relatively narrow range. Current researches on PCM mainly focus on its preparation, mechanism, and testing, while few researches have been conducted on the evaluation of PCM’s temperature regulation effect. This research however, established an asphalt pavement model with and without PCM respectively by applying finite element method (FEM), and compared the two patterns’ thermal regulation ability in a detailed way. Influence factors of asphalt pavement temperature field were classified into external and internal factors. The boundary conditions were determined based on in-situ meteorological data. The effects of PCM on temperature of asphalt pavement were evaluated. Latent heat accumulated temperature value (LHATV) and latent heat thermoregulation index (LHTI) were selected to evaluate the latent heat effect. Results showed that different layers of surface course constructed with PCM had different thermal regulation ability. Other factors like temperature difference in a day and whether to add PCM can also make a difference. The proposed LHATV and LHTI were good indices and assessment for PCM’s function. The results of the present study can lay the foundation for calculating the temperature field of pavement structure constructed with PCM and for investigating the application of PCM in pavement engineering.