Precast concrete with self-powering defrosting capability
Each year, 24% of weather-related vehicle crashes occur on snowy or icy pavement and 15% happen during snowfall or sleet. Over 1,300 people are killed and >116,800 people are injured in vehicle crashes on snowy or icy pavement annually. Snow and ice increase road maintenance costs. Winter road maintenance accounts for ~20% of State DOT maintenance budgets. State and local agencies spend more than $2.3 billion on snow and ice control operations annually. Each year, these road agencies also spend millions of dollars to repair infrastructure damage caused by snow and ice. This exploratory project is aimed at developing precast concrete with self-powering defrosting capability. Defrosting capability has long been shown to be effective in cement-based materials by resistance (Joule) heating, provided that conductive admixtures are used to reduce the resistivity. Short carbon fiber is the most cost-effective conductive admixture to greatly lower the resistivity, so that resistance heating becomes effective. Short steel microfiber is even more effective than short carbon fiber, but it is much higher in price.
Language
- English
Project
- Status: Active
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Sponsor Organizations:
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Newmark Civil Engineering Laboratory
Urbana, IL United States 61801-2352Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology
University Transportation Centers Program
Department of Transportation
Washington, DC United States 20590 -
Performing Organizations:
221 Ketter Hall
Buffalo, NY United States 14260 -
Principal Investigators:
Chung, Deborah
- Start Date: 20250101
- Expected Completion Date: 20250630
- Actual Completion Date: 0
- USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Admixtures; Carbon fibers; Deicing; Precast concrete pavements
- Subject Areas: Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Materials; Pavements;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01943056
- Record Type: Research project
- Source Agency: Transportation Infrastructure Precast Innovation Center
- Files: UTC, RIP
- Created Date: Jan 22 2025 11:56AM