Abstract:

Ice and snow accumulations on paved surfaces in airports have the potential to cause flight delays and/or cancellations, pavement deterioration, and safety concerns. In recent years, hydronic and/or electrically conductive concrete (ECON) heated pavement systems (HPS) are receiving attention for mitigating problems associated with the presence of ice/snow on roadways and paved areas of airfields. The need to investigate and/or develop new technologies to best automate and accelerate the construction of large-scale heated pavements at airports is imperative. In this study, a detailed review of advanced pavement construction techniques and practices was conducted to evaluate their efficacy and applicability to construction of HPS at airports. System requirements of ECON and hydronic HPS were identified, and laboratory experimental investigations were performed to study their efficiency and performance results, leading to the development of a design procedure for large-scale HPS at airports. Advanced construction techniques and workflows, viz., precast concrete pavement, two-lift paving, and concrete overlays, for heated pavements were demonstrated through three-dimensional (3D) visualizations to provide design and construction guidance for large-scale heated pavement at airports. A 3D finite element model was developed for ECON that can be used as a cost-effective evaluation tool for examining the effects of various design parameters on the time-dependent heating performance of ECON HPS design optimization.