United States Department of Transportation
i
Anti-icing and de-icing superhydrophobic concrete to improve the safety on critical elements on roadway pavements.
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2013-09-01
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[PDF-3.44 MB]
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Abstract:Icy roads lead to treacherous driving conditions in regions of the U.S. resulting in over 450 fatalities per year. Deicing chemicals, such as rock salt help to reduce ice formation on roadways to an extent, however also result in detrimental effects to concrete and especially reinforced concrete. The creation of an icephobic concrete can provide a much extended lifespan for critical elements of bridges and other transportation infrastructure. Moreover, the use of icephobic materials in highway infrastructure can significantly reduce the need for maintenance. With increasing costs for de-icing and anti-icing materials currently used on highways, and considering new environmental regulations, the need for new icephobic cementitious composites which can provide the required durability and mechanical response for critical elements of transportation infrastructure is evident. In this research, superhydrophobic siloxane admixtures were applied to concrete surfaces rendering them icephobic. These superhydrophobic admixtures were developed and investigated to reduce the ice adhesion to concrete surfaces. In addition, the proposed method involves the engineering of the hierarchical structure for concrete wearing surface by optimization of aggregates and the use of fibers. The research demonstrated that the best water repellent materials (measured by the contact angle) were obtained using polymethyl-hydrogen-siloxane. The addition of fibers and the dilution of the emulsion were found to be the parameters that greatly enhance the hydrophobicity. Diluted emulsions (5% active material) allow the fiber to produce a hierarchical surface of fibers and aggregates so the material has superhydrophobic properties.
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