Thermal Performance Optimization of Ribbons-Based Electrically Heated Pavements: A Numerical Study

Infrastructures in many countries experience accumulations of snow. On pavements, this causes unsafe conditions for road users. An alternative technology to snow plowing and de-icing consists of embedding near the ride surface ribbon-like elements that melt snow and ice due to the Joule effect as an electrical current is passed through the ribbons. This study dealt with the optimization of electrically heated pavements utilizing such ribbons. For this, a thermal model was mathematically outlined; it considered the 2D heat equation applied to a three-layered domain representing such pavement. The top boundary (i.e., pavement surface) was subjected to a heat flux representing weather effects, which were quantified with measured data obtained in the UK. A large number of cases were considered for the optimization: ribbon spacing and embedment depth, thermal conductivity of the top layer representing AC, and energy consumption of the ribbons. Amongst all cases, for the considered weather data, it was found that the optimal heated pavement consists of a ribbon spacing of 0.2 m, an embedment depth of 0.07 m with a thermal conductivity of 2.5 \({\text{W}} \cdot {\text{m}}^{{ - 1}} \cdot {\text{K}}^{{ - 1}}\) for the asphalt concrete. The developed thermal model is seen as a tool that engineers can utilize for the thermal design of heated pavements.